


Wild West

by tiny_maus_boots



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Wild West, alternative universe, bechloe - Freeform, staubrey - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 19:38:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 46,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17432261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiny_maus_boots/pseuds/tiny_maus_boots
Summary: Beca, Chloe, Aubrey and Stacie have pulled off the heist that will allow them to begin a new life. Only the law is closing in on them and theirs and they've got to come up with a plan to get the gold (and their asses) across the border. Or: Bechloe and Staubrey set in a Wild West AU because it just needed to happen.





	1. Chapter 1 - Beca

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to lilhan on Tumblr for the talk that brought this to life.

Beca raised the jaw harp once more and placed it in her mouth and gave it a mournful flick with her thumb. The deputy leaning against the wall raised his eyes at the sound and smiled at her. Her eyes narrowed and the corners of her mouth turned down in a slight frown. There was something wrong with that one, he was as soft as his hands. Hands that had never seen a real day’s work in their lives, hands that didn’t even really know how to hold the guns strapped to his hips. She twanged the instrument again, her ears picking up the faint sound of hooves clopping along the dirt track just on the other side of her cell window. Beca let out a deep sigh and rested her head back against the bars as she lay on the less than pristine cot along the wall.

She stopped playing and let the harp drop down to hang from the leather thong around her neck. It surprised her when they let her keep it but she supposed it wouldn’t do her much good as a weapon. The door swung open letting in a blinding sweep of light. Beca’s hand came up to block it from her eyes relying on her other senses to let her know what was happening. A heavy hay cart rolling by brought a tickle to her nose and she gave a tiny sneeze. “Bless you.” It was too eager, too cheery and she knew it was the Deputy that had spoken and not the Sheriff. The door shut and she raised her head back up in time to see the Sheriff throw his smiling Deputy a glare.

While the Deputy may have been too soft for the job at hand the Sheriff was not. He smiled a hell of a lot less and smelled a hell of a lot worse for starters. The older man pulled his wooden chair away from the scarred desk and dragged it purposefully the bars close to Beca’s head. She sat up and slid to the far end of the cot already knowing from experience that being out of his reach was a good idea. The side of her head throbbed in reminder of why and she only just kept herself from reaching up to touch the bruise his meaty fist had left. “Good. You’re awake. Gonna answer my questions now? Or do I have to get rough with you? Hm?” The way he hitched his belt as he straddled the chair made her lip curl. It was the implication of that gesture that hung in the silence between the three of them.

“Sheriff I don’t think she knows an….”  


“Shut up Benji! G’wan an’ tell Meemaw I’ll be by ‘round noon for lunch.” Beca’s eyes drifted to the Deputy, he looked torn as if he didn’t dare disobey but didn’t quite feel right leaving her alone with the Sheriff. He hesitated a second too long and the Sheriff lost his patience. “Now damnit! Get on, go!” Beca watched him jump and stumble against the desk in his haste to get out of the way of the Sheriff’s swinging fist. Beca’s lips quirked in a smirk when the Deputy scooted out the door just in time, the smirk faded when she realized it was just the two of them now. “Stupid son of a…I swear if he weren’t kin I’d shoot him myself.”

He turned back to Beca and leaned into the bars too casually. “He seems alright to me.” She didn’t even know what made her say it other than the fact that he seemed unwilling to leave her alone with the man. That was enough she supposed for her. It wasn’t friendship by any means but at least she knew the weight of him now. Knew his soft heart was good and that counted for something. She had the weight of the Sheriff too and was unsurprised when rattled the door to the bars to try to intimidate her. “You know Sheriff…?”

“Cox.”

“…Seriously?” Beca raised her hands in a gesture to placate him even though she couldn’t quite wipe the amusement off her face. “Look Sheriff Cox I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know where the gold is and if I did I still wouldn’t tell you.” He snorted as if he expected as much and moved to the small desk. His ham hand yanked the top drawer open and pulled out a well-oiled chest brace of knives and her amusement faded a little. “Those are mine and I’m gonna expect them back before we’re done here Cox.”

“See Mitchell I think your problem is that you don’t rightly understand the position you’re in here. Now you’re gonna tell me what I wanna know or I’m gonna use each and every one of these knives on ya. Might be before I have my fun, might be after…but between you an’ me, it’ll probably be during. And when I’m done. You’re gonna tell me what I want. You understanding me now?”

Beca shook her head just once and brought the jaw harp to her mouth slowly. He shrugged as if absolving himself of guilt for what happened next. His sneer was disgustingly smug as he turned to retrieve the keys to her cell from the desk. Cox tore his gaze away only to stare into the empty drawer with a scowl. “Lose something big guy?” He yanked the drawer all the way out and threw it before yanking open the next.

“Benji you little shit…” She put the harp back in her mouth and flicked her thumb a few times. It seemed to annoy the Sheriff more and he shoved the desk out of his way. He whirled on her and rested his hand on the butt of his gun. “I don’t need to get in the cell to hurt you bitch. Just tell me where the gold is!”

Her response was another flick of her thumb and the twangy vibration it made. He pulled his revolver from the holster, thumb tugging back the hammer in one fluid motion. This was a man used to shooting and no real reason not to shoot her right now. Beca watched his finger tightening on the trigger in slow motion as a concussive blast shook the whole building. It startled a shot out of the Sheriff making her knife rig slide off his shoulder. It was close enough to the bars for her to reach but not close enough for her to get to before he took a better aimed shot at her. There was a sound of horses braying wildly and screams but he didn’t dare take his gun off her. “Think that’s gonna get me running do ya? The second I run out that door your little gang of hoors is gonna try to set you free. I ain’t that stupid. See I think you do know where that gold is and I think they’ll do anything to get you out. I think…”

Beca twanged her harp again and seconds later another blast shook the jail, this one much closer and the Sheriff ducked down for cover. The back wall of the jail crumbled a little and cracked and she yanked the smelly cot blanket over her head, huddling down with her hands over her ears when a blast brought the whole wall down behind her. Debris and dust pelted her and for a few seconds she couldn’t hear much of anything but the dust cleared and a familiar figure swaggered through the wreck of the wall, gun raised and pointed at the Sheriff’s chest. “C’mon lover, time to go.”

Beca chuckled and scooted to the door of the cell. Sheriff Cox raised his gun and pointed it at her as she reached for her gear. She sighed softly and rolled her eyes up to look at him. “I’d put that down if I were you. She’s not much of a shot but at this range it’s a fair bet you’ll be a dead man.” The click of the hammer pulling back on Chloe’s gun was just loud enough to make a point. The Sheriff slowly lowered his gun and spit on the floor just as Beca reached for her knives. It didn’t hit her but it was close enough that her lip curled in disgust. Beca pulled her harness through the bars and quickly climbed over the rubble of the wall. Her tall Palomino snorted and bumped her chest happily and Beca smiled before she lifted herself and swung a leg over it’s back. She buckled on her harness and reached down for Chloe’s hand just as the door to the Jail blew open in splinters, knocking the Sheriff flat on his face. Chloe laughed as she gripped Beca’s wrist and leapt, trusting her partner to help lift her onto the back of the horse. Arms wrapped themselves around Beca’s waist and they leaned into the wind as their horse sped off in a loud bray of defiance.


	2. Chapter 2 - Stacie

Stacie whistled softly as walked down the dusty road through the center of town. They were strangers and as such they were cause for staring. Even more so because she knew they were a pair to behold, Stacie doubted anyone in Penitence had ever seen women with all their teeth, let alone women bold enough to wear pants and guns. She nodded her head once in the direction of the jail as they passed by leading their horses. The familiar twang of Beca’s jaw harp echoing softly from the building. “Sounds like your girl is ‘round back. You know what to do?”

Chloe gave her a wink and held out a hand. Stacie slipped the tiny vial in to her friend’s hand carefully. “Yep. Far corner of the wall and shoot from cover. You just make sure you and Bree get out safely.” Stacie gave a nod and patted Beca’s horse on the shoulder as Chloe broke from their path and detoured toward the church singing Amazing Grace softly to the whickering horse she led. Rowdy bumped her shoulder with his nose and she smirked over at him, reaching up to stroke his long face. She tied him off at the post and took two light steps up onto the wooden sidewalk. From her spot she could see the length of the town, just one narrow track in the middle of nowhere. If it weren’t for the now abandoned Army barracks she was leaning against no one would have even known there was a town here at all.

She palmed another small vial from the padded pouch on her belt and slid it into an inconspicuous place on the ledge of the window. Stacie moved away from the wall casually, sweeping her hat from her head to wipe her brow with her forearm. A quick flash of light caught her eye and she smiled knowing that Aubrey had noticed and tagged the spot. Stacie moved along, taking Rowdy with her, ignoring the stares as she led the sturdy dappled pinto past the stable. She poked her head in noting that no one was inside. “Lucky me.” The horses barely made a sound as she moved between them, opening each stall and backing the horses out as quietly as she could. Stacie stopped at a big steel gray, appreciating the blue tint to his coat. There was a beat of hesitation when she questioned if she had time to take a horse when she was busy working but shrugged it off. Eh. It couldn’t hurt and she knew a girl that would look good on a horse like this.

It didn’t take her long to throw a blanket and saddle on the horse’s back. Carefully she made her way outside with the gray and Rowdy following placidly along behind her. Stacie held one of the two remaining vials in her hand, placing it ground behind the barn as she passed along the back of the buildings. When she was far enough away she mounted Rowdy and wrapped the gray’s reins around the pommel of her saddle. Strong legs tightened around her horse, keeping him still with the pressure, his head dipped almost in acknowledgement and he stilled. Stacie pulled her gun smoothly and sighted down the barrel and eased the trigger back nice and slow. Neither horse seemed bothered by the sharp crack of the revolver but they damn sure were bothered by the loud blast that shook and rattled the clapboards all the way down the row.

It took all her considerable skill as a rider to keep the gray from bolting and dragging Rowdy along with it for several long minutes. The horses bursting from the front of the stable caused a rash of screams and shouts that made her laugh. God forgive her for her sins but that was always gonna be funny. Someone had the wit to pull the church bell and she knew their time was just about up. The clang of it sounding off covered another echoing shot and she smirked, feeling the ground rock under them from another blast. Two down, one to go and Beca would be home free. Booted heels gently kicked her horse into light trot, bringing them swiftly to a wagon of hay behind the saloon just as the last and smallest blast shook Penitence to its knees. Both horses shifted uncomfortably when a clatter from above dropped heavily into the wagon of hay next to them. Aubrey popped up with a wide grin that faded in mild confusion. “Who does that horse belong to?”

“Yours.” Stacie raised a brow with a cocky grin when realization dawned on the blonde’s face. “Beautiful lady should have a damn fine horse, if ya ask me.”

There was a soft flush but Aubrey’s smile was pleased as she scrambled over the wagon side and into the saddle. “He’s beautiful.” Aubrey slung her rifle over her shoulder and gripped the reins firmly in her gloved hands reminding Stacie that beneath that soft smile was steel determination and skill. A combination she found entirely captivating. “Time to go, you good?”

Stacie chuckled as Aubrey drew her hat down further and kicked off ahead of her without waiting for an answer. They burst from the side of the building, scattering people back up onto the raised sidewalk. Stacie gripped the smallest vial she had and tossed it just as they passed the jail. It was only a drop but a drop big enough to take a man’s leg clean off if he stepped on it. The second it hit the door to the jail it splintered and blew forward. She and Aubrey raced forward neck and neck for a good half mile before Beca’s horse closed in and met their pace.

Beca didn’t look too worse for wear, a little banged up and dusty but grinning like the devil, hair blown back with Chloe wrapped tightly to her back. She chanced a glance over her shoulder to see how far back the nearest pursuers might be and laughed. People were still trying to corral what horses hadn’t run clear out of town. It’d be awhile before they got a posse together but not long enough to get to the border. “Caverns?”

Chloe gave a thumbs up and they split in two different directions. A posse could track them if they had a good enough tracker, but the closer they got to the foothills the harder it would be. With the sun dropping low and fast it would be too dark to even try to track in the mountains anyway. Aubrey’s horse edged ahead of Rowdy, stretching his legs in a longer stride, his rider adjusting her hips and leaning into it effortlessly. Aubrey tossed her head, flinging her long hair out of her face as the wind changed direction. There was something so unselfconscious about the gesture, so natural that it squeezed the heart in Stacie’s chest.

It was a change from the Aubrey that was constantly aware of the light and positioning of her head and face, always easily dropping into the shadow of her hair to hide the long scar that ran from forehead to jaw straight down over her cheek. Stacie really didn’t notice it, Aubrey was beautiful and that’s all she saw. Aubrey caught Stacie watching her and gave a wide challenging smile as she gave another kick to her horse’s flanks breaking past Rowdy in a plume of dust. Damn if she didn’t love that woman, Stacie shook her head and raised up in the saddle as Rowdy leapt lightly over a narrow dry ravine.

The spent the next hour pushing each other, racing across the landscape with only the sound of Aubrey’s delighted laughter breaking the steady pound of hooves. It had taken time doubling back and pressing forward again until finally they were thundering through a low pass only wide enough for their horses to skirt through just as the sun sank low bathing them in a soft gold and violet haze. Stacie swung one long leg over her horse and slid to the ground, her steps taking her to Aubrey’s side to help her down. Aubrey landed with a giggle and turned to face Stacie, her smile growing quieter at the closeness between them. “Thanks for the gift, he’s wonderful.”

“You’re wonderful.” Aubrey lightly pushed Stacie away with a rolled eye but she knew it was just for show when Aubrey didn’t actually move. “Come on, lemme buy you a drink then you can thank me til the sun comes up.”

“Tsk. Dirty.” But that was the only complaint she got as Aubrey laced their fingers with her free hand, leading the big gray to a large open cave mouth where the sounds of other horses echoed softly. Laughter and music spilled out of another much smaller cave mouth and they detoured there after rubbing the horses down and settling them for the night. They were greeted by shouts and raised mugs and although she dipped her head to let her hair hang over her face Aubrey smiled and waved back at the varied acquaintances and former riding partners. The Caverns were filled with just the right kind of folk in the wrong kind of business and to be honest it just felt like home.

Aubrey nudged Stacie gently with her elbow and nodded to the far back table deep in shadows. Stacie snagged a bottle of rot gut whiskey that was slid to them from across the rough bar. One arm slung over Aubrey’s shoulders and she guided them to where Beca and Chloe were watching the crowd, Chloe resting comfortably in Beca’s lap.

“Goddamn, we actually did it.” Beca gave a slow nod that was uncharacteristically serious before she took a breath. “But there’s no way we’re getting cross the border with all that gold before someone catches up to us. We need a new plan….”

Aubrey sighed as she settled furthest in the shadow. “We need a miracle.”

Chloe raised her head from Beca’s shoulder and gave them all a wink. “We just need some time to catch our breath. We can still get through if we go through Zachary’s Pass.”

After a second Aubrey took the bottle from Stacie and tipped it to her lips, pushing it across to Chloe and Beca. “Like I said, we need a miracle.”

“We’re runnin’ short on those, Bree. Not that I’m ungrateful but you all could have gotten yourselves caught.”

“If you don’t want to be ungrateful stop flapping your gums, Beca. You know the rule. Where one goes, we all go.” Aubrey gave Beca a mild glare that the shorter woman couldn’t meet and Stacie realized this might actually get heated if Beca chose to keep arguing it.

“I maybe have a plan but it means we need a lil help…”

“You think they’ll come?” Chloe bit her lip in question as she sipped from the bottle and coughed a little. It wasn’t great whiskey but it was strong. It could probably blind a horse though.

“You heard Bree, where one goes we all go.” Beca gave a slow nod and took the bottle taking a long gulp before handing it to Stacie. “They’ll be here, for now let’s just enjoy the fact that we’ve got tonight for ourselves. Chloe slid off Beca’s lap and tugged her hand gently.

“C’mon Cowgirl, let’s go for a ride.”

Beca’s smile was slow and cocky as she stood and followed after Chloe. It took Aubrey a full five minutes before she turned to Stacie with a slight frown. “In the dark?” It was so dang adorable that Stacie only smiled and pulled Aubrey closer to her, nuzzling her temple.

“Aubrey Anne Posen you are just too precious for words.” Aubrey’s body shook in silent laughter and Stacie reached out a hand to tug the blonde along after her. They needed to find a place of their own right now. Tomorrow would bring tomorrow’s problems, tonight they had each other.


	3. Chapter 3 - Chloe

Chloe reached out blindly in her sleep, her hand seeking the soft warmth of Beca’s body. After a moment she opened her eyes with a sigh and sat up to scan the darkened cave lit only by the gray glow of predawn coming from the fissure that made a fair enough window in the wall. Chloe pulled the Navajo blanket over her shoulders and padded the few steps to where Beca stood staring out at the horizon. Her skin was chilled when Chloe pressed their naked bodies together, wrapping them both in the blanket.

Beca immediately relaxed into her and Chloe nuzzled into her neck as her hands roamed over Beca’s belly and ribs. Her fingers traced the swell of Beca’s breast in a delicate caress. “You’ll catch your death standing in the chill like this.” The chuckle was barely more than a soft rumble but Chloe could feel the current of worry in it.

“I don’t know if it matters much Chlo. Either the law catches up to me, or I lose a fight, or I fall down dead of the pneumonia. Either way I’ll be finished.” It hurt something deeper than her heart to hear those words. Chloe stopped her hands from roaming, her breath caught in her throat.

“Don’t talk like that Beca. You know I don’t like it.” It wasn’t that she didn’t know this type of life would bring a very quick and likely bloody end. She had known that all along. She just didn’t like to hear Beca talk about what would happen if there was no reason to yet. “You’re just a lil shook is all. We’ve been caught before and we’ll probably be caught again if we’re not careful. But we ain’t been caught any place we couldn’t get out of so far. It’s not time to worry love.”

Beca turned in her arms and Chloe traced the line of her spine with calloused fingertips. Beca’s nose grazed along her jaw. The tension easing out of her slight frame with each deep inhale of Chloe’s scent. “What would I do without you, Beale?”

“You’d probably have a bunch of bullet holes in ya. Still be stuck in jail somewhere maybe.” Beca’s laugh tickled her neck and she sighed happily. This was everything, this was what she risked a nasty death for. Every blessed second with Beca Mitchell. She pulled back and rested their foreheads together, noses brushing lightly. “Bec…this is it. We don’t have to live this life anymore. We got what we needed, more than. Let’s just go Mexico and live like Queens.”

“That’s the plan baby. You me, Stace and Bree. But it’s the gettin’ gone that worries me. That Sheriff wasn’t planning on giving a fair trial. He wanted gold, all of it, and not because he wanted to return it to its rightful owners if you know what I mean.” Chloe gave a slow nod of acknowledgement and sighed. “Cox is gonna be after us for sure and I don’t want him to get his hands on you.”

Chloe brought a hand up and traced the bruised and lacerated skin at Beca’s temple. “I see that Sheriff again he and I are gonna have a talk about him putting his hands on  _you_. And I promise he won’t like what I have to say about it.” Chloe meant it too. She’d just as soon shoot him dead as look at him. But Beca was right, he would be after them for humiliating him in his own jail alone but he had double incentive because he wanted the gold too. They were safe for the moment but eventually someone would find them, and everyone in the Caverns would be just as caught. Beca turned her head and kissed Chloe’s palm.

“Can’t argue with that. Son of a bitch wanted to cut me with my own knives.” Beca’s grumble of annoyance was damned adorable and Chloe leaned into a soft kiss, her lips brushing against Beca’s until they were both left just a little breathless.

“It’s too early to think on that. Let’s get dressed and see if we can get something to eat. The girls should be up soon.”

Beca gave a tiny snort as she extricated herself from Chloe’s arms and reached out for her soft buckskin leathers. “Not if Stacie has any say in it. You could hear ‘em clear across the chasm.” Chloe laughed as she buttoned up her rough cotton shirt.

“You know what it does to Stacie when she gets to blow things up. Besides, did you see what she got for Aubrey? A girl gives you a gift like that, you thank her for it. Repeatedly.”

Chloe watched Beca buckle on her knife rig as she buttoned up her pants and slipped her suspenders up to her shoulders. Beca laughed and leaned against the rough wall as she waited for Chloe to finish getting ready. “You know I’ve heard most women are partial to jewelry and pretty lace and silk fabrics. Since when is stealing a horse wooing a woman?”

“Since those particular women rob trains and appreciate explosives and guns.” Chloe finished buckling on her gun belt, her fingers trying the leather thong to each thigh quickly. Beca handed her a pair of worn boots and she sighed. She would admit that she might want a new pair soon enough. They could afford it. She stuffed them on hastily and stomped her feet a few times to settle them just right. Her thumbs hooked into her belt and she strolled along behind Beca with an easy rolling gait. Beca stopped them at the rough cut stairs carved right into the cavern wall and pulled her close.

“We get across the border and I’m gonna get you everything you ever wanted Chloe. I promise I won’t make you regret choosing me.” That had never even been a thought in her head really. She had chosen Beca and never once looked back on what could have been. Chloe smiled gently at her mate and curled a lock of dark hair around her finger, giving it a playful tug.

“I never have and never will regret walking out of that church. Cutter was a good man, rich even but he wasn’t my heart and soul. You’re everything Bec, dirt poor or filthy rich you’re everything to me.” She loved the way Beca’s usually reserved smirk faded into a real grin at her words. The warmth between them doing a lot to ease the doubts they both felt about getting the hell out the territory. Chloe gave Beca a gentle nudge and started them down the stairs that lead to a larger open cave that branched out into several smaller side caves like one they had made a room in. “Besides, you promised me excitement and baby there is never a dull moment with you.”

They ducked down a long corridor lit by a few hanging lamps that flickered as they passed. Beca gave her hand a squeeze as they stepped into the main hall. Aubrey was already at a table cleaning her rifle with military proficiency, her tools and weapons all laid out just so as she worked. Beca slid into a chair keeping her back to the wall and Chloe dropped into the seat directly across from the blonde. “Morning sleepyheads. About time you got down here.” Chloe gave her amused grin and sagged back into her chair, casually hooking an arm over the back.

“We might have been up before dawn if we could get any sleep.”

“Sinners.” Aubrey gave them both a snide glance and set her Remington .22 to the side and picked up a pearl handled revolver, giving the loose cylinder a good spin, her lip curling slightly at something she didn’t like about the action.

“Oh most definitely but I was talking about you and Stacie keening like wildcats in heat.” A bright red flush crept up Aubrey’s neck and face and Chloe’s grin widened. “I didn’t know you still sang by the way. Stacie must really be something special.” Beca ducked her head and bit her lip to avoid laughing at Aubrey’s utter mortification. The second Beca let out even a hint of a giggle they would both be dead where they sat and they both knew it. Aubrey’s tolerance only went so far and that was changeable on any given day. The blonde opened mouth but shut it just as quickly, her head ducking so that a sheet of straight golden hair covered her face.

“Who sings?” Stacie deposited four tin mugs on the table and sniffed at the hot bitter coffee with a grunt. “Jesus, I swear I’m chewing on last week’s grounds.” They all looked at her and Stacie blinked back at them. “What?”

Beca cleared her throat as she reached for a mug and raised it up in thanks. “We were just talking about getting an early start today. You wanna fill us in on this plan of yours?” Chloe watched as Aubrey gave Beca a small shoulder bump of thanks and kept cleaning her guns. It made her heart tug with the sweetness of it. Stacie dropped into a chair next to Chloe and sipped at her coffee. A few other people shuffled into the room going about their business. The more people that came in the straighter Aubrey drew her back up until every movement and every breath was intensely aware of their surroundings.

Stacie watched the transformation letting her usually easy smile fade into a pensive frown. Chloe raised her brows wondering if maybe she wasn’t the only person that mourned the change in Aubrey around other people. The tall brunette shook off whatever she was thinking and leaned forward so they could keep some semblance of privacy. “You all know as well as I do that there is no way we’re moving that much gold in carts across the border. A load like that and we’ll be easy targets. A whole team of 4 to 6 horses will get there faster for sure but the weight on the cart going that fast on that kind of terrain is asking for a broken axle or two.”

Beca gave a slow nod having come to that conclusion herself and Stacie took a breath and went on. “I say we take a train. Safer from most bandits.” Themselves not included. Aubrey snorted softly at that and loaded her revolver, sliding the cylinder home with a final sounding click. It definitely wouldn’t stop the four of them from taking over the train.  

“That won’t stop them from putting up a blockade when then realize what we done.” Aubrey was right even though she didn’t want to admit it out loud. The train would be the best way to move the gold but it was problematic in its own way. “Telegraph is even faster than the train, love.”

Stacie sighed and gave a nod. “I thought of that. But I think I have a half assed plan that might actually work if we can get the Swanson Boys to lend a hand.” Chloe groaned and sat back in her chair again. Of all the people in the world to need help from, the Swanson Boys were the worst. She hated every last stinking one of them, most especially Jesse.

“When you said you needed help I thought you meant from our girls. Not…them.” It was petulant and she knew it. They all did but they all cut her slack, Aubrey giving her a quietly understanding slight smile. No one at the table liked the idea of inviting the Swansons along and that was at least something.

Beca stayed quiet and brooding and Chloe wondered if she was just trying to process that. “We do need the girls. There’s no help for it. We need a team to do some distractin’ and we need a team to clear the train. I’d rather my own team doing the train work. We already know how we work together, done this before a dozen times at least. But we still need someone to keep that Sheriff off our asses while we do it. Katherine says she caught sight of a riding party a few miles out circling the ridge when she sent Emmy to town for some supplies.”

“That’s getting too close for comfort. If they see Emily coming back with the wagon they’ll follow her right to the Caverns.” Beca put her mug down and glanced at Aubrey who considered a moment before nodding.

“I can pick them off but if the horses bolt, and they will, they’ll carry the bodies back to town and if the Sheriff knew where they were searching then they’ll know where to start looking. Could kill the horses but that’s a waste of a good animal. And harder to clear and hide.”

Chloe grunted and shook her head. “Let’s try not to hurt the innocent.” The horses weren’t the problem. The posse party could get pretty close without ever discovering the entry to the Caverns, that was what made them such a good hiding place for people in their line of work. The Caverns were a semi-permanent installation because a person could search for years and never find just the right set of caves. But she didn’t want to test that theory with so much riding on them staying hidden for a while. “Maybe we can lead them away from this side?”

Stacie gave a nod and gestured to herself and Aubrey. “We can do that easy if they get too close. But they won’t even see Emmy coming. That’s the other part of my idea. I wanna show you guys something but I think it’d be best if we went our own ways and met up in a bit. At our spot.”

Beca and Chloe met each other’s gaze before giving a slight nod to Stacie. She was being intentionally vague in case anyone had overheard them. There were only four people in the world that knew what ‘our spot’ meant. It was the spot their lives changed forever. Their crew had gone their separate ways after things had gotten a little too hot a few years back, but the four of them had stayed together, choosing to work towards something bigger. They made a vow to each other, where one goes they all go. This was the life they had chosen together and in a way it bound them closer than anything else ever could. It made that location special and unforgettable to all of them.

Chloe nodded and knocked idly on the table top before standing and jerking her head toward the cook station. “I’m gonna go get something for us to eat. Sounds like we’re in for a bit of a hike. Bree?”

Aubrey slid her guns into their holsters at her hips and pulled her Stetson low over her eyes. “I think I’m gonna climb the tower and see if I can spot those riders. She nodded agreement and let her gaze drift to Stacie.

“What about you?”

Stacie leaned back in the stair and stretched all of her long frame out looking more like a large cat than a person for a second. “I gotta check my stock and take inventory. If Cox thought the jail was bad he ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” That left Beca. Chloe was loathe to let her out of her sight for too long. She wasn’t normally this clingy but despite what she said to Beca earlier, getting caught was a little too much. Beca had only been in jail all of three days but it had been the longest three days of her life. Her mate seemed to understand Chloe’s silent question and raised her head.

“I’ll help you get some grub together.” Beca stood and took a few steps toward Chloe before turning to face Stacie. “If you say you need them then I trust you. Just…keep him away from me. Or the 'til death do us part' he and I once promised each other might be sooner than he planned." She turned and took Chloe’s hand, leading her through a few tables and chairs and as far from the idea of Jesse Swanson as she could get them. Chloe understood and didn’t push it, they’d cross that bridge when they came to it. If worse came to worse…well…Chloe always suspected that Beca would make a beautiful widow.


	4. Chapter 4 - Aubrey

Aubrey watched Beca and Chloe make their way toward the alcove where Katherine always kept something warm going for the road weary. Her gaze drifted over to Stacie who had slumped a little over the table. One pale brow rose and she sighed. “Really?”

Stacie shifted uncomfortably and gave a small grunt of annoyance. “I don’t see another way. And no one else is coming up with any brilliant plans either.” It was defensive and Aubrey’s first instinct was to start an argument but she knew they didn’t have time for it and this wasn’t the place. And truth be told she knew Stacie was right. Sort of. She just didn’t like the idea of it and she knew the unexpected mention of Beca’s husband had rocked both her and Chloe.

“Okay. I’ll grant you that, love. You just sometimes forget words can be bombs too.” Stacie’s eyes drifted up to hers and Aubrey shrugged and looped her rifle strap across her chest before rolling up her cleaning kit carefully in the thick canvas pouch. Long graceful fingers made quick work of tying the roll neatly with rough strings of jute. When she turned back to Stacie she could see that she was being carefully watched. “Beca cried for a week Stacie. She didn’t even cry that much when we had to pull buckshot out of her ass after El Paso.”

Stacie’s lips twitched at the memory of it and Aubrey sighed. Amusement right now wasn’t appreciated. “Okay okay. You’re right. I maybe could have said it better. We just…don’t have time to be delicate.”

Aubrey gave a slight nod and reached out to ghost a hand over Stacie’s shoulder. Her fingers squeezed gently in a show of comfort and support. It wasn’t like her to do often but Stacie made it hard not to reach out and touch, especially when the moment was so heavy. The taller woman tipped her head to the side, bumping her forearm in acknowledgement of the gesture. “I know. It’ll be okay.” Stacie nodded and let it go with a deep breath. “I’m gonna go check on those riders. Take my kit up when you go?”

Her partner gave another short nod but winked to show she was okay. Or would be anyway. Stacie was right, delicacy was not a luxury they could afford at the moment. It still didn’t make any of them feel any better about Jesse being back in Beca’s life even for a brief moment, much less that they suddenly needed his help. She gave another squeeze to Stacie’s shoulder and marched off to the back wall of the main cavern. Aubrey pulled her leather gloves on as she angled her path to the sturdy timber ladder that rested at the opening to the tower. Her rifle clinked comfortingly against her back as she climbed up and over the stone lip to a narrow rift between the walls. It was too tight to go through without taking off her holsters and rifle, an act that always made her feel so damned vulnerable even when alone on a thin stone ledge. She pushed her gear through the crevice then slid through with breath caught tight in her chest.

Jesse wasn’t a bad man exactly, at least not bad for a man in the business of stealing cattle and horses. But even moderately decent men do stupid and terrible things when pushed. Aubrey remembered his face when he had come to tell them that his last ride had been a disaster. Jesse had fair near crushed his hat in his hands, his shoulders shaking with sobs as he explained how many of his boys had died, how Beca was just as good as dead.

Chloe had slapped him then, so hard Jesse had stumbled back a few steps with the force of it. For several heart rending moments they had thought Beca was gone and dead like so many of the Swanson Boys and to find out that she was alive… But Jesse had given up the idea of getting her back, of being with her to the end whatever that may be. He had given up and ridden away as a posse dragged Beca through town behind their horses.

Aubrey picked up her weapons and settled them into place as she scanned the horizon carefully. She easily fitted one booted foot into small toe hold and reached up with an easy stretch of her body to a hand hold above. The climb was easy, foot hold, hand hold, reach and pull. The rhythm of it soothing some of the ache that came of thinking about what almost happened.

None of them lost any time, they saddled up and rode out from the Beale family ranch in a thunder of hooves and encouraging shouts to their horses. Jesse had stood by the side pleading for them not to make it a funeral of four but he may have well been speaking to the deaf for all the heed they paid him. By the time they’d gotten close enough to town two days later the sickening shouts of angry glee were rising to a fevered pitch. Beca had been pulled roughly onto a hastily erected gallows, a coarse noose wrapped around her neck and tightened. She’d fought them with a vicious head-butt even then and Aubrey had never been more proud to call someone her friend.

Aubrey had intended to spare Beca the suffering of a horrible choking death. It would break Chloe…it would break all of them for her to do it really, but a shot through the heart was a damn sight better than the suffocating panic of being strangled to death. Chloe’s quick inhale of breath and the sound of her revolver clearing its holster made Aubrey focus harder, reminding herself that there was still a chance. Her gaze narrowing to the most finite point in the distance until all she saw was the rope going taut as Beca’s weight pulled the slack. Her first shot would have severed the rope clean through if Beca hadn’t been so damned squirmy but she supposed given the situation it was understandable.

Needless to say they managed to get Beca back even if Chloe and Stacie had to take down half the town in their getaway. They hadn’t seen Jesse again, he’d been gone when they arrived back at the ranch. It was just as well because she was certain that Chloe would have emptied every single round she had left into his worthless cowardly carcass.

Aubrey reached the pinnacle of the ridge and leaned against a large bounder. Her sharp eyes immediately picking out the shapes of three riders in tight formation and a fourth man further behind walking his horse and stopping every now and again to look for tracks or check one of the shallow empty caves. It was clear that the three ahead were familiar and used to riding with each other. They rode with a lazy gait that suggested they spent long hours riding, probably herding. The other however walked with a clipped practiced gait of a military man.

They weren’t close to the entrance of the Caverns by any means but there was a familiar nagging in the back of her mind watching the solider move about. It was the curiosity really that caused her to find the edge and quickly pick her way around the ridge to a rocky outcropping just above the party’s heads. She was close enough to hear the rumble of masculine laughter and teasing.

“C’mon pretty boy, you gonna poke around in every cave and culvert? They ain’t here, hell, there hasn’t been a sign of anyone campin’ out here in months. We’re headin’ back, now you comin’ or not?”

Aubrey watched the tall broad shouldered man take a deep breath and sigh before nodding. “Yeah. Yeah I’m coming. G’wan ahead I’ll catch up, I just want to circle back one more time.” His voice made her lip curl and her hand instinctively hovered over the grip of her gun. The three other men scoffed but turned their horses east and cantered away at a good clip leaving the lone rider to mount his horse after kicking a loose rock to skitter across the ground. Once he was settled in his saddle he turned his head to survey his progress.

There wasn’t even a second of hesitation when she leapt lightly off the edge of the overhang with her camp knife in hand. Aubrey landed heavily behind him, the horse side stepping with a nervous grunt. When the solider would have turned she pressed the blade of her knife firmly to his neck and snarled in a low, rough voice. “If you turn around I swear to the Almighty that I will cut you a new mouth, Avery Posen.”

Her brother froze and swallowed thickly, the reins going slack in his grip. “Aubrey?” She could hear the incredulous wonder in his voice and it gave her a deep sense of satisfaction. “So it’s true…you’ve taken up with outlaws and thieves. I thought it was a mistake, you running off with that whore…” Her knife dug in just a little deeper, drawing a bead of blood and her brother stopped speaking.

“Careful. I’m partial to the pretty lady, and I don’t take kindly to people bad mouthing her.” She knew it was pushing him, throwing it in his face that she had made her choices but Aubrey didn’t care what he thought. She didn’t care what any of them thought. She had left the overbearing and more often than not heavy handed strict religious rule of her father’s home and never once regretted it. Avery had struggled under their father’s roof some but had left for the Army as soon as he was able. He’d missed the swift decline into madness that their father had fallen to but he had seen enough to know her life had been hell already.

But Aubrey had been there to patiently suffer it all. Until she could bear no more and fled for her life into the desert to the only sanctuary she could think of. If not for Chloe, Aubrey would surely be dead this very day. “Aubrey. This is serious business, the Army is taking a special interest. If you’re caught up in this you have to come clean. I’ll help you get out if you’re…if you’re being…forced into unnatural acts…”

She used her free hand to pull the pistol from his holster and toss it into a patch of cacti. His words gave her pause and she blinked at the back of his blonde head. “Are you asking if I was kidnapped or lured into this?” Avery didn’t have to answer, she could tell by the set of his jaw and the stiffness of his shoulders that he did think exactly that. That he still hoped she was somehow redeemable or at least not culpable. It made her tired all of a sudden and she sighed, pulling his Army bayonet free of it’s sheath to toss it a good bit away. “Why is the Army so interested in this?”

He didn’t answer and she pulled her fist back, landing a swift hard punch to his kidneys. She hadn’t always hated her brother but she had learned to over time when he did nothing to stop the way she was mistreated, even taking a sadistic pleasure In it from time to time. He sagged to the side a little with a grunt and a wheeze. “You think you can go around blowing up garrisons without the Army investigating? You’re wanted criminals and your time is up. We won’t stop until we have you. Then may God have mercy upon you because the United States government will not. Harlots and thieves will find their place in Hell. You know this Aubrey. Just do the right thing and come back as my prisoner. Let me help you.”

His words seemed right, or should have seemed right. Her gut told her otherwise and she scoffed softly. “You’ve never raised a hand to help me a day in our lives. Not even when Daddy took his best hunting knife to my face.  _If thine eye offends thee pluck it out._ The memory of her father’s harsh voice as he cut her took the air from her lungs for a moment and she shook her head. “I hardly believe you want to help me now.”

He turned as much as he could with her knife still dangerously close to his neck though no longer pressed so tightly as to draw blood. “You’re my sister Aubrey. I want to help you. Just cooperate and we can work this out.” His eyes so like her own met her gaze. “Tell me where to find it and this can all be over.”

Aubrey’s fist came back harder than before and when he doubled over she brought the hilt of her knife down on the back of his head knocking him out cold. She slid from the back of his horse and tied his hands to the pommel. His body sagged dangerously to the side and she considered leaving him to his death but she found herself hesitating at the idea of letting him die. No matter what he’d done in the past or what he wanted from her now…she wasn’t there yet. Wasn’t ready to cross that her own line in the sand. Not yet at least. Aubrey looped the rope around his waist and tied it off quickly. She tipped her head up to look at him with a sad sigh. “I almost believed you. I  _wanted_  to. But you’re just here for the gold like everyone else. Bastard. Yaaah!” She gave the horse a solid slap to the haunch and sent it bolting away. She watched it go until Avery was just a speck in the distance. “Well. Shit.”

Whether they hated him or not, they were most definitely going to need Jesse’s help now. Angry townsfolk were one thing, but the United States Army was another affair altogether. It was looking like their time had finally run short.


	5. Chapter 5 - Beca

It was quiet around the Caverns as Beca saddled her horse, King snuffled at her shoulder blowing her hair back and she laughed despite the heaviness in her chest. Beca rested her head against his neck as she stroked his shoulder. Chloe led her horse forward and leaned against a wooden pillar just watching as Beca straightened up to tighten the straps before turning around to face her mate with a tight lipped smile. “I’m ready.” It was about as much as she said all morning. Chloe hadn’t pushed her and she was grateful for it but she knew she had say something at some point. “The girls already head out?”

Chloe reached out to pet King’s nose before answering. “Yeah, Stacie rode out with her tail between her legs and Bree was hot on her heels looking more surly than usual.” Beca’s lips twitched in a slight smile at the annoyed tone of Chloe’s voice. The protective streak was endearing and Beca reached to tug on the sleeve of Chloe’s duster letting her mate know that Beca appreciated her. “We can find another way you know. We don’t need him, Bec.”

Beca led King out of the stable before she reached up and hauled herself into the saddle. “It’s a lot Chlo. I dunno how I feel about it. Him.” She had loved him once, or as close to love as she knew at the time. They had been a team and his betrayal had cut her deeply, much more deeply than she ever imagined it would. It wasn’t just that he had let go of her hand and left her to the mercy of a posse, he hadn’t even been waiting for her when they got back. For a long time it kept her from trusting anyone else and now he was suddenly thrust upon them again, unwanted and unexpected.

Chloe hoisted herself into the saddle and clucked her tongue at her horse, settling into the easy cantering pace. “Well I sure know how I feel about ‘im.” Beca gave a half chuckling nod of acknowledgement. She knew exactly how Chloe felt about him and given the opportunity she was sure her mate would draw down on Jesse without batting an eye. Beca kept pace and her silence until they had a few miles under the hoof. When they were just shy of their spot she slowed her horse to a trot and let her shoulders drop.

“It’s not that I love him still. You know that, you’ve got all of me.” Chloe matched Beca’s trot and gave a slight nod of her head. She did know it and she didn’t question the fact in the slightest. Chloe understood how complicated it must be for Beca.

“Never even a question, Cowgirl.” She offered Beca a wink before jerking her chin at the entrance to a boxy canyon. They slipped in one by one, the trickle of water from a sluggish stream splashing up under their horses as they trotted out into the valley. Aubrey and Stacie were watering their horses a bit upstream and Beca pulled King to a halt near them. Stacie scratched at her ear and kicked at a loose stone as Beca and Chloe dismounted. She looked like she had something she wanted to say but Beca didn’t really need to hear it. She knew it wasn’t meant to hurt her, it just was what it was.

Beca let her horse drop his head to the cool water, tying his reins off on the trunk of twisted knotty tree that had fallen over long ago. “Beca, look I’m real sorry about bringing it up. I should have thought it through…” Beca raised a hand and shook her head to forestall more of an apology from her tall friend.

“S’Okay Stace. I know you didn’t bring it up for shits and giggles. Maybe when the girls get here we’ll come up with something else.” Something better that didn’t involve her having to face Jesse for the first time in years. Aubrey made a rumble of dissent and raised a flask to her lips to take a long pull, wiping at her chin with the back of a gloved hand. Aubrey wasn’t by any means a saint but she was as good a Christian woman as she could be given what she had left behind, so she wasn’t prone to much drinking and certainly not during the day. Beca and Chloe shared a brief look, each as confused as the other.

Aubrey took a deep breath and let it out slowly, one hand came up to idly scratch at the long scar on her face. Over the years Beca had come to realize that it was one of Aubrey’s tells. She touched it when she felt vulnerable and small and watching her do it now unsettled every last one of them. Stacie focused her intense gaze on Aubrey, noting every twitch of movement that crossed Aubrey’s face. “Bree?”

“The damned Army is in Penitence.” They took a collective breath at that, Chloe shaking her head with a sigh. It was to be expected really since they did technically steal gold intended for the Federal Reserve. Twice. She just didn’t understand why Aubrey was so bothered by the news that the Army would be interested in getting it back. Stacie frowned and took a step closer to Aubrey, gently pulling her hand away from her face so that she could tip Aubrey’s chin up.

Aubrey took a breath then swallowed but couldn’t seem to look away. “I’ve seen you stare an Army regulation Gatling dead in the face and laugh. You gonna tell me what’s so big it’s got ya spooked?”

Beca reached out blindly and met Chloe’s hand, giving it a squeeze for reassurance. “Avery’s with them.” It dropped between them like a lead weight and the air rushed out of Beca’s lungs. Avery Posen was the devil’s son. There was but a heartbeat before Stacie turned on a heel to stride to her horse, one foot already hooked in the stirrup to haul herself up. Beca reacted first, pushing herself between Stacie and Rowdy trying to block her friend from a ridiculously disastrous course of action. The taller woman roughly shoved Beca out of her way and hauled herself up into the saddle.

Stacie tried to back her horse up to get around them but Beca gripped Rowdy’s bridle in her hand. “Let. Me. Go.” Chloe scooted behind Beca and grabbed the other side, holding his head steady and making it harder for Stacie to fight it without seriously hurting someone. Not that she didn’t still try.

“Stacie stop! STOP!” Beca winced at the echo of Chloe’s shout as it bounced off the canyon walls. She didn’t dare let go of her grip on Rowdy and watched Stacie warily. Aubrey had dropped her flask from nerveless fingers and stood frozen in mute horror of the idea of Stacie going after her brother. Her lips moved but her words were barely more than a choked whisper.

“Please don’t leave me…” It was more than just a plea to stay. If Stacie rode out now she was sure to die. Standing against one man was easy, standing against an army? That was a horse of a different color all together. “I can’t Stace…I can’t without you.” Aubrey’s tanned face turned a stricken gray her eyes dim making her look more lost than Beca had ever seen.

Beca felt her heart rise to her throat, threatening to choke her with the depth of hurt in those words. She caught Chloe’s eye and swallowed thickly. If anything ever happened to Chloe they might as well put her down like a bull gone wrong. She felt the echo of Aubrey’s pain stir inside of her and she had to take a second to blink back the sudden rise of hot prickling tears. She had lost Jesse and it had hurt but she never really stopped living, or being, she just kept moving forward. It settled inside her chest with a calming weight despite the fact that watching Aubrey broken at the mere thought tore at her heart something fierce because she understood it. She couldn’t without Chloe either.

Chloe snapped when it looked like Stacie might try to kick her way free and pulled her gun, the hammer cocking back before the barrel was fully out of the holster. She took one shot to the sky and leveled it right at Stacie’s face. “Damnit Stace, stop!”

“You’re not gonna shoot me Chlo.” Stacie scoffed at the idea of it but she didn’t dare take her eyes from the steady steel pointing straight at her. Beca’s girl might be soft and cuddly but she was hard when she had to be and right now she had to be. The gun lowered and Chloe pressed the tip to Stacie’s foot then raised a challenging brow.

“Ya got 9 others give or take depending on how stupid you decide to be. Look at her. Just look! Look at her and tell me your way is better.”

Stacie tossed her head in disbelief and looked over her shoulder to Aubrey. Her face crumbled and her shoulders bowed under the sudden weight of guilt when she realized what she was doing to her partner. Stacie let the reins drop from her fingers and carefully swung a leg over so she could dismount. Beca sighed softly in relief and let go of the horse’s head so she could move in closer to Chloe’s comforting warmth. When she was close enough to cling to Aubrey buried her face in Stacie’s neck, hands balling in Stacie’s shirt with a slight tremor. The taller woman murmured soft apologies as she cradled her mate close to her chest, her eyes soft in apology when she gazed over at Beca and Chloe.

Chloe holstered her gun, fingers lingering on the butt as if she itched to use it still and Beca knew the desire for vengeance ran through them all. Regardless, this new information had to be weighed carefully, had to be considered from all the angles. Beca half leaned into Rowdy’s shoulder and brought her harp to her lips, twanging idly as turned it over in her mind. Chloe gave her a regretful smile and tipped her head. They needed Jesse and his boys, there was no other option as best as she could see. Beca let the harp drop to her chest and nodded her head in agreement. Chloe moved forward to stroke down Aubrey’s back soothingly. “So the way I see it we have two options. Cut our losses, call in our favors and hide or run until we can make our way up north to new territory to plunder until we have what we need to move on. Or we can pony up with our old outfit and plow down anything that gets in our way. I’m not so much for the former myself but we should all have a say because where one goes we all go.”

Aubrey gave Chloe a slight nod, her hand finding her friend’s with a warm squeeze. “I agree with Chloe. We can tuck tail and run up north but the Army will be after us still and whoever else we cross along the way. We chose this mark so we could use the gold to buy us new lives, seems a shame and a sin to give it up for getting caught somewhere else.”

Beca watched as Stacie gave a short nod of agreement. There wasn’t much to be said but she figured she had better cast her vote as well. “Then it’s unanimous for the border, anyone gets in our way we send them to hell and I hope to God that swine of a brother of yours plants himself in our path.” Stace raised her eyes to Beca and gave her a nod and slow smirk that meant she was going to kill Avery whether he got in their way or not. Beca didn’t rightly mind that plan so she gave a wink to Stacie letting her know she was on board for that. “Good now let’s just focus on one thing at a time for now. How are we getting Emmy through with supplies with Cox’s men circling around searching for us?” There were only so many options and all of them left Emily in a wagon full of supplies in plain view of any interested eye.

Stacie looked over her shoulder and then pointed to a cleft in the wall that hid a deep cave they’d used on more than one occasion to hide out and heal up. “Let’s go for a walk. It’s better if I show you.” The leggy brunette took the lead ushering them through the craggy face. Beca stopped just inside to let her eyes adjust to the dark even though she knew the interior well enough to walk it with her eyes closed. Someone struck flint with their knife and used it to light a few lanterns stashed with the emergency supplies. Beca blinked at the warm yellow glow when Aubrey handed her the lantern and moved to light another. “Where exactly are we going?”

Stacie shouldered a bug out bag on her shoulder and gestured to the lowest hole in the back wall. “About six miles up through there. It goes down a bit and gets a little tight in places but it goes all the way through the mountain. Comes out at the Old Crow Mine.”

Chloe peered into the darkness dubiously. “Didn’t that mine close because of a collapse?” Stacie chuckled and hefted a coil of rope in her other hand.

“Yeap. Didn’t take much to clear it and shore the supports. Even still has the old track runnin’ through the main vein.”

Beca gave a half laugh. “Train track huh? Exactly how long have you been working on this escape plan of yours?”

“Since you got caught in El Paso.” Beca grumbled under her breath and rubbed one butt cheek that she swore still had buckshot in it. Well. If they managed to pull this off it might be nice not having to worry about get shot or stabbed. Or caught. A thing that happened far too frequently for Beca’s liking. A tight smile crossed her face and snorted.

“Well then g’wan lead the way, this is your rodeo.”


	6. Chapter 6 - Beca

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday @chloes-yellow-cup I know it’s relatively a small thing but it’s from a big part of my heart. You’re my bestie and ilyan.

Beca blinked at the brightness of the afternoon sun as they exited the mouth of the old mine. She looked down at the steel tracks pinned to the hard dusty earth and toed a rail with her boot, brow puckered in thought. She could see the track stopped just a short bit away past the miner’s shack. No doubt there just to make it easy to haul out rock from the mineshaft. “These don’t go far.” She turned her head to the wind and let it lift the strands that had blown in her face, her gaze landing on Stacie’s tall form.

“It’ll take some work but a few years back Union Pacific hired my dad to blow a pass right through this mountain. Turned out to be more trouble than it was worth. Too much steel ore to make blasting easy but not enough to invest in mining it out.” Beca gave a nod of understanding even though she didn’t see how any of that was going to help them any. Stacie knelt by the track and picked up a few stones to juggle in her hand. “When they figured it wasn’t gonna work they put in a switching track and diverted away from the mountain. But the old track is still out there, a good half mile out. We lay down rail from here to there and we got ourselves something.”

Stacie skipped a stone along the ground with an easy flick of her wrist. Beca watched it clatter out in the direction of the track. If they could get a track laid out they could bring the train to them. A smile curled her lips and she brought her gaze around to Chloe. The redhead ran her fingers along her jaw in a familiar gesture that always meant she was working through something, before nodding agreement, her soft voice gaining firmness. “We bring the train to us it’ll make getting our haul and our asses out of here a lot easier. Bree?”

They all turned to Aubrey who had been silent the entire walk through the tunnel. Beca could see a line of tension in the blonde’s shoulders that normally wasn’t there when it was just the four of them. “The new track goes through Penitence.” Her head tipped to the side and the shadow from the brim of her hat left most of her face hidden. “We can bring the train to us but our little Hell ride will take us straight to the belly of the Beast on the way out.” It was a sobering thought with the Army camped out that way and Beca rolled her shoulders to work out the knot of muscle clenching ever tighter between them. She hadn’t thought that deeply about the whole picture and that could get them all killed. “I made my choice, I’m in this for as long as we’re together but we gotta think this through. We need outta here nice and clean ‘cause I ain’t going back. I’ll eat a bullet before I let Avery take me…”

A wave of unease swept over all of them at the thought. Stacie cut her eyes to Beca in a subtle gesture and she nodded back. Chloe looked back and forth between them her gaze sharp and searching but she said nothing and moved to Aubrey’s side where she reached up and tugged a lock of blonde hair playfully. “What’s the rule Bree?”

Aubrey’s head dipped her head further and kicked at a loose rock. Her words were reluctant and slow but she nodded her understanding of them. “Where one goes we all go.”

“That’s right. Where one goes we all go, even if one or two of us wanna go and get themselves killed like a couple of idiots.” Beca’s head came up quickly and she blinked at Chloe staring her down defiantly. Aubrey frowned then looked between the two brunettes with a questioning brow. Beca cleared her throat but it was hard to meet her girl’s eyes. After a moment realization dawned on Aubrey and she sucked in a deep breath.

“No.” Stacie started forward to argue but Aubrey raised her hands to forestall her rant. “Listen. God knows he’s a problem and a threat but he’s still my brother. I can’t just kill him even if I think he deserves it. It’s not the Christian thing to do.”

“Of course not Bree. You never could and not one single one of us is gonna go looking to pull a trigger on him without cause. That would just be stupid and dangerous.” Chloe pinned them both with a stern look before squeezing Aubrey’s arm warmly, her voice low and serious. “But if he gets in the way I promise you I will put him down. Any of us would. You’re not the only one scarred up inside over what they done to you.” One long finger traced lightly down the scar on Aubrey’s face and Chloe’s voice softened. “He’ll pay for every stitch I put in your skin, they both will. May not be now, may not be our hand, but they’ll get theirs.”

Aubrey didn’t answer and Beca could see the guilt warring with relief in her eyes. It hurt to see because she didn’t understand the blonde’s loyalty to her kin. Only Chloe really knew what Aubrey had been through but Beca could guess how ugly it had been by some of the scars she’d seen marking the blonde’s body. She sighed and gave a short shake of her head and walked along the rail a few feet. She wasn’t mad at Aubrey really, just mad that she was being so damned stubborn. Avery would need killing either way because as long as there was breath in his lungs he’d come for them. He’d come for Aubrey. A haze of brown rose on the horizon and she raised her harp to her mouth to twang it mournfully. “I think that’s Emmy coming up.” Beca looked over her shoulder at the group and jerked her chin at Aubrey. “Can you spot ‘er?”

It only took a few seconds of careful scanning of the face of the mountain before Aubrey was moving with liquid grace, climbing with the thinnest of foot and hand holds. When she was perched high enough up she focused intently on the horizon, her long sight picking up things that would only be a blur to Beca. “It’s Emmy alright, but she’s got a rider with her.” Stacie’s head snapped up and she walked to the end of the track, hand over her eyes to see as far as she could. Aubrey gave a short chirping whistle and sighted down the length of her rifle. “I see a badge.”

“Break for cover.” Stacie and Chloe scattered in opposite directions, the taller woman sliding into the dry creek bed behind the cover of some tumbleweeds. Chloe scrambled behind the shack with her back to it, both guns drawn and ready waiting for Aubrey’s signal. Beca ran back toward the mine entrance and worked her way up to Aubrey’s vantage point. “You sure it’s a badge?”

The blonde snorted delicately, never taking her eyes off the target as it came nearer. “Unless it’s some fancy necklace. If you wanna go down there and look real close you’re welcome to it.” Beca chuckled and pulled two smaller throwing knives from her chest harness and leaned back against the boulder they were covering behind.

“See anyone else out there creepin’ up on the horizon?” If they had to they could get back through the mine to their spot but they couldn’t do that without Emily. If they had to fight their way out of this it was going to be harder to escape unharmed.

“Naw. Just Em and looks like the Deputy is with her.” Beca cursed softly and looked over the top of the boulder. It was still hard for her to see detail but she knew the figure riding in on horseback well enough. “Should I kill him?” She sighed and ducked back down to lean against the rock.

“No. I dunno what he wants but he’s not all bad.” Aubrey turned disbelieving green eyes on her and she shrugged. “He could have left me alone with Cox but he didn’t. I think he was trying to protect me in his own way.” Aubrey frowned at her and she shrugged. “He likes to hurt people, that one.”

It was enough for apparently for the other woman, Aubrey’s jaw clenched and she nodded once but hadn’t lowered her rifle. Just in case Beca was wrong. Truthfully Beca didn’t even blame her for the caution. They had a lot more riding on their survival than they had before. When she heard the wagon clatter to a stop Aubrey called out loud enough to be heard. “That’s far enough Deputy. You just dismount nice and easy, hands high like its Sunday service. Good boy.” When she gave Beca a wink the brunette stood and crawled to the top of the boulder to look down at the Deputy.

He was standing awkwardly by his horse, both hands held high in surrender. “I uh come here in peace. Please don’t shoot me. I’m not armed. I promise.” Chloe tossed her a look from her hiding spot and Beca rolled her shoulder in a half shrug. He didn’t seem to be lying but it was hard to tell. Emily jumped down from the wagon and trotted a few steps forward, half blocking his body with her own.

“He’s a friend! I vouch for him.” Beca slid her knives back into the harness and leapt down to the next large stone, crouching on top of it to look down and the Deputy. He flinched but smiled when he recognized her. Emily rushed forward in her eagerness and waved excitedly. “Beca! I knew it! See Benji, I told you she’d be fine.” Beca didn’t miss the way he smiled at Emily or the lingering look she gave him in return. Her brow quirked but she kept her questions about that to herself for the moment.

“You got some explaining Emmy.” Emily looked back and forth between Beca on her perch and Benji before reaching out to lower his hands.

“He’s a friend. I promise.” Emily tugged him forward by the hand, leading him right past Chloe’s hiding spot. She slipped out of the shadow and brought her guns level with his chest, covering Beca in case it all went sideways. The Deputy jumped a bit and watched her nervously before turning to face Beca again.

“What are you doing here law dog?” Benji let his shoulders drop and took a steadying breath.

“The Army is in Penitence. There’s a signed warrant out for all of you dead or alive.” Her lips curved into a grin and she hooked her thumbs into her harness.

“Dead or alive, huh? How much am I worth now? I bet I break 250 dollars by now.” Beca dropped down to the ground and made her way to the two mules that pulled Katherine’s wagon on supply runs. Nudge and Budge snuffled and hawed at her proximity, each bumping the other out of the way to get closer to Beca. She reached out a hand to stroke their noses as she eyed the Deputy in wary amusement.

“Fi- um- ahem, five hundred.” He looked uncomfortable and she threw her head back with wild laughter.

“Five Hundred Dollars! Well hot damn maybe I’ll go turn myself in.” She made her way around him in a slow circle, stopping only to nudge Emily affectionately and trail a hand over Chloe’s, lowering the raised guns trained on the Deputy. “What do you think?”

“Please don’t do that.” She had heard a lot of people beg her to do things over the years. Please don’t steal my pocket watch, please don’t hurt me, please don’t leave me here, please go to Hell and please don’t kill me. But she hadn’t yet been asked not to turn herself in. He started to take a step forward but stopped himself when Chloe’s guns came back up with a click. “I know you steal from folks and that’s wrong but you also do good things with it. All that money you gave the church for that orphanage, the corn seed you brought that pueblo across the river. Even the heard about the way you kept the train from crossing through Chumash land. See I don’t think you’re exactly what the newspaper says. Not really. You do right when right needs doing. I admire that Miss Mitchell and I think y’all deserved to know what’s waitin’ on ya in Penitence.”

“He’s got ya there Becs. You’re just as soft as a kitten.” Stacie’s amused grin appeared from around the side of the wagon startling a flinch from Benji when he realized how close she was. “You sure you’re not here to get an autograph, boy?”

The Deputy shifted a little shyly under Stacie’s direct gaze, he shook his head with a sluggish shrug of his shoulders. “No ma’am. I’m here because right is right and wrong is wrong. This badge was supposed to mean something but Sheriff Cox, he ain’t right. The things he’s done…” Emily reached out to squeeze his hand, giving him her silent support. Stacie’s gaze went right to it and she raised her brows only just coming to the realization that there was something between Emily and the Deputy. “Point is I don’t think its right what’s happening. You done more good than harm the way I see it and if they catch you it’s a short drop from the end of the gallows.”

Beca cleared her throat at the memory of what that felt like. The seconds before her drop seemed to speed by double time but once she was swinging wildly, the rope cinching ever tighter to choke the life from her, those seconds had seemed interminable. A lifetime of missed chances and lost opportunities flashed through her mind and she knew then, in what she thought would be her final moment, she knew the only good and right thing in her life was Chloe Beale. Beca’s eyes drifted up past Benji’s shoulder and met Chloe’s warm gaze. She wasn’t eager to hang again and much less see any of the girl’s hang. Beca gave the Deputy another lingering look.

“Alright.” She wasn’t about to tell him all their secrets but she’d take his warning as a sign of good faith. It was all information she already knew but at least she knew he wasn’t lying about the facts of things. Her gut told her he was trustworthy but her brain reminded her that she thought Jesse was trustworthy once too. “You better get on out of here Deputy before they start wondering after you.”

It took him a second before he realized he was being dismissed but when he caught on he smiled his acknowledgement and turned to face Emily both her hands in his. “I’ll see you soon. I promise.” Beca smirked at slight frown on Stacie’s face when Emmy learned forward to kiss Benji’s cheek. It was sweet the way he blushed and stuttered a goodbye before mounting his horse and riding back the way he’d come. When he was far enough out Aubrey made her way down to the rest of the group. They stood in silence watching him ride off before Chloe broke first.

“Ooooooh Emmy’s got a boyfriend. Emmy’s got a booooooooyfrieeeeeeeeeenddd” Emily immediately blushed at the singsong tease, her mouth opening then closing.

Aubrey tsked softly, her rifle cradled in her arms. “A Deputy Emmy? Couldn’t you find a nice respectable boy on the wrong side of the law?” There was a teasing glint to her eyes that told Emily it wasn’t serious but she shrugged and gave a wistful sigh.

“He treats me real nice and sometimes…” The younger girl smiled impossibly wide, her arms wrapping around her middle in a hug. “Sometimes we go behind the stable and…”

“Kiss.” It came from three mouths in varying degrees of amusement.

“God! No! Sing…he sings to me.” Emily gave a dream sigh and Aubrey rolled her eyes.

“Oh Lord. It must be true love.” She slung the rifle over her shoulder and moved start pulling supplies out of the wagon. “Let’s get this back to your ma and you can tell us all about this Deputy of yours.”

Beca had the feeling they’d never stop hearing about him now.


	7. Chapter 7 - Chloe

“It’s been three days.”

Beca gave a short nod and slid the blade along her whetstone with measured ease. Chloe brought the glass of whiskey up to her lips for a slow sip, her eyes catching Beca’s to share an annoyed look.

Jesse either didn’t see or chose not to and settled on a chair at their table. He and his boys had been making themselves at home in the Caverns and their presence was starting to ruffle everyone’s feathers. “You sure your crew is gonna show?”

Beca paused and let the deep blue of her eyes bore into him. “They’ll be here.” She let her gaze drift back down and slid the other side of the blade along whetstone with a final sounding snick. Jesse watched her with nervous anticipation, his lip caught between his teeth as if he were just barely keeping his words from spilling out. The memory of Jesse had been a thorn in Chloe’s backside for years, the desire to settle up with him for leaving Beca to hang never that far in her thoughts. And here he was in the flesh, so close she could punch him, but she didn’t dare because their success was dependent on tenuous peace between them all.

“We’re riskin’ a lot here already but if they don’t show…”

Chloe put her glass down hard on the scarred table causing Jesse to turn and stare at her. “You don’t have to question our loyalty to our own.” He had some balls on him for even doubting that their girls would come through for them when they needed it. It wasn’t just that though, he had been persistent with his attention toward Beca and she was more than a little put out by it. His look was not a warm one when he met Chloe’s gaze.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” His lips thinned out in anger and Jesse started to rise to his feet, the chair scooting back with the push of his legs.

“It means none of us are cowards.” She brought a shoulder up in a shrug at his question and played with the half full glass.

“You calling me scared?”

Beca sighed when his voice rose and slid her whetstone and polishing cloth into her rucksack choosing not to get involved in the brewing argument. Chloe didn’t blame her for not wanting to open old wounds and for the most part Chloe had tried to ignore Jesse but he seemed to be making a habit of popping up wherever Beca went, his presence a constant and weighted shadow over them. She brought her hand up, palm grazing over the hard butt of her gun and she itched to draw it. Jesse tracked the movement and curled his lip in naked disgust.

“No sir. Everyone gets scared from time to time.” The anger in his eyes flickered at Chloe’s words, confused by her acknowledgement of fear but not quite sure if he could trust it. She downed the last of the whiskey and turned the glass upside down on the table, her body rising smoothly from her seat to lean over the table in a pose mirroring his. “I’m callin’ you a yellow bellied bastard of a coward.”

His gun was out before she finished speaking but it didn’t scare her in the least. Chloe leaned in closer, the barrel of his gun brushing her shirt. The cavern around them slowly muted to silence as everyone focused in on their table. Jesse’s voice was a strained barely contained roar. “Call me a coward again and see what happens.”

“You shooting an unarmed woman because you don’t like hearing the truth isn’t gonna prove your point Jesse.” Neither of them broke eye contact to look at Beca who was finally done packing her tools away. The brunette stretched her back out and reached out casually to snag Chloe’s arm to tug her mate into her lap. The second Beca’s arms were around her Jesse ceased to be any kind of a concern because all she could see, all she wanted to see was Beca. Their foreheads touched in silent communication before Stacie’s amused voice broke them moment.

“Best put that steel away, boy, before you hurt yourself trying.” Chloe turned her head in time to catch Jesse leveling the gun at Stacie in anger and embarrassment. He wavered a second before putting his gun away and turning on a quick heel to stomp out of the entrance. Before he even cleared the mouth music started up again and folks resumed their drinking. Chloe leaned further into Beca’s body and smiled as Stacie settled into the chair Jesse had just vacated. “That kid has some fuckin’ nerve. He’s lucky Bree ain’t here.”

“He’s lucky my girl isn’t lookin’ to pick a fight.” Beca smirked, giving Chloe a squeeze and nodded her thanks when Stacie placed a bottle of whiskey in the center of the table.

“Who’s not looking to pick a fight?” They turned just as Aubrey sauntered in with a wide smirk. Chloe raised a hand half playfully and reached out to pour a shot for Aubrey with her own glass. “Thanks darlin’.”

Aubrey settled and swept her hat off her head, tossing it casually to the side to land on the empty chair left at the table. Her hair cascaded down and the blonde gave a quick jerk of her head to fling it back over her shoulder. Chloe couldn’t help but notice the way Stacie’s eyes lit up at Aubrey’s openly excited smile. She understood, seeing Aubrey this open and unselfconscious was rare thing, one they all treasured. “You look mighty pleased with yourself Bree.”

Aubrey downed the shot and wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand. “Found ‘em. The Sisters and La Muda are up in Penitence. Our lil buddy with a badge says Sheriff Cox won’t let anyone through town to head toward the Badlands. Ace and Florencia are settling their gear in some rooms. Dingo is makin’ friendly with Bumper.” The blonde’s lip curled a little at the idea of anyone getting friendly with Bumper and they all shared a laugh. “So what’d I miss?”

“Jesse pulled a gun on Chloe because she called him a coward.” Aubrey blinked at Stacie, weighing her words for truth before she turned to look at Chloe.

The redhead shrugged her shoulder for confirmation. “He was being a turd. But now that the girls are here he should be happier.” Beca snorted softly and Aubrey pointedly refilled her drink. Chloe looked between them then at Stacie who shook her head with a grin. “What?”

“He’s not gonna be happy until he’s riding out with a wagon full of gold and Becs on the back of his horse.” Stacie shrugged as if that were obvious and Aubrey made a face to say ‘she’s not wrong’ and downed the shot with a hiss.

“Preferably with you dead in the grave Chloe if God grants his prayers.” She refilled her glass once more and pushed the bottle back to the center of the table. Aubrey snapped a finger length splinter from the edge of the table and lit the end in the lamp. She leaned back in her chair and lit the end of a half smoked cigar she’d pulled from her vest pocket. “Jesse will be a concern before our business is through mark me on that.”

Smoke curled up in a billow above their heads oddly comforting despite Aubrey’s words. Stacie played with the charred splinter but she pinned Beca with a look. “Aubrey’s right but we won’t have to deal with him too much longer. Way I figure we do two jobs and it’s done. First is snag the train, bring it to the mine and the second is to load it up and blow out of the territory as quick as we can.”

Beca nodded and tightened her arms around Chloe as she shifted more comfortably in her seat. “Any word on when the next train is gonna be along on the old Union line from the east?”

Aubrey puffed on the end of her cigar and gave a nod. “Not for another month.” It took the wind from Chloe’s lungs and she slumped in defeat against Beca’s chest.

“That’s too long Bree! We can’t stay holed up here forever. Not with the company we got and the Army breathing down our necks.”

The blonde gave a nod and raised the shot glass to her lips. “There is another train but you’re not gonna like it.” She tipped it back and leaned back with a shrug. “A short line passenger from Georgia is coming up through town. Be here in two days.”

Two days wasn’t a lot of time to get the rest of the track laid out and the mine widened out enough for the engine. Beca grunted softly and shook her head, one hand reflexively tightening on Chloe’s thigh. “That’s risky. Grab the train in the same place we have to bug out of? I dunno about that.”

Chloe sat up a little so she could pull the charred splinter from Stacie’s hand using it to sketch out a rough map on the table top. “Maybe, we don’t let the train get to town. Look here, we can ride it down just before its due in Penitence. Stop her on the tracks right there, kick off the passengers and breeze right on through town until we get to the mine.”

The other three leaned closer to look and Aubrey nodded her agreement. “By the time they realize what’s happened we could be loading up gold. Be gone before they scout out the new track all laid down…it could work.” Some of Jesse’s boys laughed loudly at a table across the room. None of them close enough to hear the conversation but Chloe wasn’t taking any chances. Whatever was left in the bottle she upended on the table and swiped a hand over the charcoal sketch to obscure the route.

Beca reached across the table and put her hand out palm down. Chloe immediately rested her own hand over it and looked expectantly at Aubrey. The blonde smirked and rested her hand on Stacie’s already resting on Chloe’s. When they broke Stacie took Aubrey by the hand and tugged lightly. “C’mon let’s make those boys jealous.”

Aubrey blinked owlishly and looked around her voice a scandalized whisper. “What?” Eyes darted to them and a few chuckles could be heard around the cave. “What are you doing?” Chloe could see her trying to pull back her hand but Stacie held fast even going so far as to pluck the cigar from Aubrey’s lips to stub out on the tabletop.

“I’m trying to ask the prettiest girl in here to dance but she’s givin’ me a hard time.” Aubrey stopped resisting and blushed at Stacie’s words almost unsure if she was the party in question. For a second it looked like she might refuse and try to pull away again but Aubrey took a breath and stood letting a delighted Stacie lead her to the middle of the floor where they held each other in a slow sway.

Beca hummed and hooked her chin on Chloe’s shoulder. “I’m a sucker for those two ya know.” She smiled at the admission and turned her head to kiss Beca on the temple.

“You’re not alone in that Cowgirl. C’mon, let’s go hunker down for the night. Tomorrow is gonna be a busy day.” Beca gave another hum in agreement and let Chloe lead her back to their room. Little by little things were coming together and she was feeling more confident that they’d get through this just fine. They just had a few loose ends to tie up before they were out for good. As they passed through the corridor leading up she wondered where exactly Jesse had gotten off to. Not that she cared overly much about his wellbeing but Aubrey had been right. The only thing they could trust Jesse to do was look out for himself. Beca’s hands trailed up along Chloe’s sides, already pulling the shirt from her trousers before they’d even fully gotten in the room. Beca kissed her like she needed Chloe to know how badly she was wanted, needed even, and suddenly she forgot to be concerned with anything but the woman in her arms or the almost aching desire to touch and taste all of her, claiming Beca in a way that Jesse never could.

Beca was hers and she was Beca’s and there was nothing Jesse could say or do to change that. As the last of their clothes fell free and they tumbled into their bed Chloe stopped thinking all together and let her instincts lead them to ecstasy.


	8. Chapter 8 - Beca

Beca gave Aubrey a nod of greeting and slid onto the chair across from her. The blonde was seated at a small table very carefully embroidering the top edge of a sheet. Beca settled on the other side of the table and looked down at the heavy leather bound book waiting for her. She trailed fingertips along the well-worn cover before glancing around to make sure they were alone as she always did before pulling the wire rim spectacles out of the small hidden pocket that opened from the side in the soft leather of her tunic. She settled them on her nose and opened the Bible up to the bookmark and looked to Aubrey for her signal.

“You may begin.” She said with a nod and a small smile, her eyes drifting back to her needlework.

For a moment the letters of the words swam on the page making it all seem like an unruly march of ants. Beca blinked a few times and leaned over the page, her finger drifting along as she read with stuttering slowness, feet hooked around the legs of her chair. “For God so lov-ed, loved the wo- worled, world, as to give his only beg-got…begotten Son; that whos..whoso…whosomeeither…”

“Sound it out Becs.” Aubrey’s tone was gentle and it helped ease the tension that started thrumming through her when she couldn’t figure the word out. She wasn’t stupid but words, letters, they were hard sometimes. Beca had never managed to learn to read and no one had ever cared much to try and teach her until she was an adult. Aubrey had been kind and patient. Understanding exactly where Beca struggled and finding ways to help her focus without seeming to ever push. It was the kindest thing a body had ever done for her and she was damned grateful to Aubrey.

“That who-so-ev-er, oh whosoever, b-be-lie-veth, belie-veth, believeth in him, may not persh, no perish, but may have life ever…las, everlasting.”

“Good Beca, that was real good.” Aubrey stopped the delicate work and reached across the table to squeeze Beca’s forearm. “Pretty soon you won’t need me to help you.” The smile that she directed at Beca was full of warm pride and the brunette ducked her head with a little shrug, proud of herself too.

“I’ll always need ya Aubrey, You mean a lot to me an’ Chloe. You and Stace…” She didn’t know how to say it right, all the things she felt about her friends and the bond they all shared. “You’re family.” She didn’t even know why she had taken the conversation this path, maybe it was the near constant pressure of Jesse’s presence reminding her of how grateful she was for the people in her life that she knew she could trust.

The blonde smiled at her, giving another gentle squeeze of her arm. Family was important to both of them though neither of them had really known what a true family was before. Aubrey with her…religious situation and Beca with no family that she knew of at all, both of them desperately wanting something real to trust in. If it hadn’t been for Stacie and Chloe, Beca wasn’t entirely sure she and Aubrey would have survived this long. She might have said more but Jesse wandered into the main cavern already scanning the interior for her.

It seemed everywhere she went he was soon to follow and it was annoying her as much as it was annoying Chloe. Aubrey sighed at the sight of his purposeful stride toward them and began folding her sheets carefully. “I s’pose you’ll want to ride on out of here in a hurry after this.”

Beca gave her a short jerk of her head, barely a nod in acknowledgement. She’d rather walk in front of the line at a firing range than talk to Jesse but that didn’t seem to be an option at the moment. Beca gave a pained sigh and tightened the control on her anger and bitterness. “Yeah. Mind roundin’ up our girls for the ride to the mine?”

Aubrey gave and nod as she picked up her Stetson from an empty chair and placed it on her head firmly. Beca tried not to smirk when her friend intentionally pushed past Jesse with a hard shoulder bump. He watched her go with a hand on his shoulder for a long moment before he turned his attention back to Beca. She sighed again and slowly slid the glasses off her face, tucking them away carefully as he closed the remainder of the distance between them.   
  
“Beca…”

“Jesse.” She leaned back in her chair when he pressed his hip against the edge of the table, pushing that much more into her personal space. Beca’s fingers drummed on the tabletop in irritation but she refused to walk away this time. Whatever wound was between them it needed to be laid bare or it would keep festering, never healing.

He seemed relieved that she was alone and let out a shaky breath. “I’ve been looking for ya. Alone at last seems like.” Jesse pulled up a chair, close to hers and took one of her smaller hands in his. “Bec. I am so sorry. I know words ain’t enough right now, I know I gotta show my hand, and I swear I will. Ya just gotta know how sorry I am. I thought you were dead. I thought…I thought I would be too if I went after you.”

Beca believed every word he said but it didn’t change things. She pulled her hand free from his not caring at all about the look of loss on his face when she did so. “I know that Jesse. I’ve been knowing that since the moment you get go of my hand when they were pulling me out of the back of the wagon.”

There was a visible flinch at the stark truth of her words but he didn’t try to argue them. “You have to know Beca. I would have come for you. I don’t know what…she…told you but I would have come.” Maybe he would have but she didn’t think so at all. He had his chance for that when Chloe, Aubrey and Stacie had come for her and he didn’t take it and hadn’t even waited around to see if they’d make it.

“Yeah I reckon that’s a load of horse shit.” Beca crossed her arms over her chest, letting the anger spark in her eyes. “How long Jesse?” His puzzled brown eyes went wide in question and she shook her head with an exasperated snort. “How long did you wait before you took off on a horse you stole from the Beale barn? Did you even wait for the dust to clear or just you just run the second no one was there to judge you for it?”

He flinched again, his face going pale then red as he fought his own anger at being called out for what he’d done. “It’s not like that Beca…I thought the law would be headed right that way. I for sure thought they’d be just as dead as…” Jesse swallowed thickly and slumped his shoulders. “I thought they’d be just as dead as you. I wanted to go get help.”

She snorted again and rested a hand on the heavy Bible in front of her. He knew as well as she did that there was no help to be had from anyone. Their whole crew had been cut down by a Gatlin. The ones that hadn’t died straight off only suffered with pain and infection for a few days before their final end. Sometimes she could still hear them screaming in fits of pain, begging for mercy and water from their cells. Their cries of pain as horrible as the deafening silence of their abrupt stop and the smell of dank decay clinging in the air. “What do you want from me Jesse? Huh? Absolution? I can’t give it, that’s between you and God now.”

It was his turn to snort and he pushed at the edge of the book under her hand. “Never figured you for the religious type. What with the drinkin’ and swearin’ and all that damn thievin’ we got up to. This isn’t you, Beca. This ain’t the real you. Readin’ and carrying on with a woman…I know the real you Becs. I know the woman I married.”

Her lips quirked into a smirk of unamused humor at the implication that she was something or someone else. She wasn’t particularly religious but she was trying to be a better person, be someone Chloe deserved to have in her life even if she had to do it in a less than Christian way. And maybe she didn’t agree with every word of the Bible, maybe she hadn’t quite yet figured out what she thought of it at all, but she knew there was someone Jesse would eventually have to settle up with for his life on earth.

“The woman you married died when you let her get dragged off across the desert ground to hang for you.”

Pain filled his eyes and he reached out to squeeze her hand apologetically. “Beca now listen, we can fix this. I can be better. We could still be together. We can take our chances in Mexico…just us. We can forget all the stuff behind us and start fresh.”

Anger rose up in a hot wave and she stood abruptly from the table. It was just like him to think she could ever move on with him. Just like him to think she could ever forget about Chloe. Jesse’s problem was that he didn’t understand that she could never love him the way she loved Chloe. “I’ll tell you this once Jesse Swanson. There is no ‘us’ and there’s no me without Chloe. Outside of this last ride, you got nothin’ I want in my life or my bed.”

His temper flared as quickly as hers had, it was what had made them such a chaotic force when they were together. Each with too much pride and not enough sense, full of youthful stupidity. Jesse grabbed her tightly pulling their bodies close together in a way that once used to make her swoon but now only made her feel ill. “I know there’s still something between us Beca Mitchell, I know you want me still. If I have to play rough then I will but so help me I’m takin’ my damn wife back.”

Beca tipped her head back and slammed it forward into his face with a solid crack. Jesse’s hands released immediately and she pushed him off of her to stumble back into the table. “People change Jesse, I’m not the girl you knew and you’re not the man I thought you’d be. I’m not interested in anything you have to offer and I’m not your wife. I’m hers.” It should have been the end of it, it should have been the last word but Beca knew it was just one too many sucker punches to his pride to ever be so clean an end. She wasn’t at all surprised by the venom and childish hurt in his voice as it carried over to where she was already strolling away.

“I don’t recall you complainin’ much on what I had to offer when my cock was in your mo….”

The crash was a thunderous clatter cutting off his words with explosive force. Beca spun on a heel in time to see Jesse staggering forward to his knees and an enraged Chloe tossing the remains of a chair over her shoulder.

“I’ll kill you, you sonofabitch!”

Beca took a step toward to try and get between them, force them to stop but sudden warmth of Stacie’s strong arm looped around her middle, holding her back. It was hard to miss the amusement in the taller woman’s tone as Chloe delivered a savage kick to Jesse’s ribs that probably broke a few bones.

“Don’t. Let ‘er have this one.”


	9. Chapter 9 - Aubrey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that don’t know La Muda is Spanish for The Mute. I’m sure we can all guess which Bella that would be.

She and the rest of their crew had rounded the corner into the main cavern right as Beca and Jesse were finishing their conversation. Aubrey winced at the volume of Jesse’s voice when he spat out his vile parting comment, and really wasn’t at all surprised when Chloe shot past her in a tornado of furious red hair and spitting curses. When Beca struggled against Stacie’s strong grip Aubrey smirked and dug a new cigar out of the pocket of her vest, biting the end off. She spat it out and lit the end on a lamp. “Be like Jesus, Beca.”

The smaller woman gave her a mild glare at getting her words thrown back at her but settled down when Chloe’s kick to Jesse’s ribs landed hard. Jesse flipped on to his back, trying to roll away but Chlo was quick to pounce, the weight of her landing high up on his belly and chest. Each punch rocking Jesse’s head back into the ground. For a second it looked like the fight might be over in a quick flurry of fists but Jesse was full of piss and fire and it was all directed at Chloe. Beca would always be between them, the seed of their contention and Aubrey knew they needed to settle things between them once and for all.

Aubrey pushed the hat up on her head a little as she watched the fight carefully. Beca struggled a little more under Stacie’s arm when the pair on the ground rolled back over, Jesse gaining the upper hand with a sneer of satisfaction on his face. Her hands itched to reach for her guns but she held steady knowing that Chloe had learned all her close up hand to hand fighting from six older brothers who used fists more than words to settle their disagreements. It was almost funny watching his face when the redhead hooked a leg around him and flexed, using her weight and the strength of her legs to flip them back over.

Cynthia Rose sidled over and raised a flask to her lips while watching the fight. “Where do you lay odds?”

Aubrey’s lips quirked into a smile and she shook her head. “Now Ace, you know I’m not a betting woman. Such things are the sins of the flesh.”

The woman next to her gave a scoffing laugh and rolled her eyes, raising the flask once more. “Sure. But if you were. A betting woman that is…who’dya think will win?”

Jesse and Chloe crashed into a table and Aubrey raised a shoulder in a shrug. “Is that even really a question?”

Aubrey’s eyes drifted back to the fight and she winced as Chloe took an elbow to the face that that split her lip in a spray of bright red blood. She staggered back a few steps, swiping a hand angrily over her chin. Her friend gave a growl of rage and launched herself at Jesse in a flail of fists and curses that was only stopped by the concussive blast of a double barreled shotgun deafening them all.

Jesse and Chloe froze, him with his hands around her neck and Chloe with a Bowie knife, almost as long as her forearm that had magically appeared from somewhere, tip pressing into his ribs with deadly purpose. Aubrey had never seen so many people draw down so quickly before but another sharp blast rained dust and gravel on their heads. She gave another puff of her cigar and snickered when Catherine’s voice boomed out loud enough for everyone that had gone a little deaf at her attention getter.

“Alright that’s just about enough of that. Now I know y’all got some business to do, and I know Sheriff Cox and the Army have teamed up and are hemming ya in so’s you got nowhere else to go. That’s all well and good but you come to my house you’re gonna respect it.” Cat glared around at the group assembled, even their own. “Chlo, I’ll expect this mess cleaned up and I don’t wanna hear any lip about it. We clear?”

“Yes ma’am.” Reluctantly Chloe lowered her knife and Jesse released his grip on her neck. When his hands were clear she took a step back, the fire of her gaze never leaving his. Hate burned with a sick glow in his dark eyes and Aubrey thought it was just as well that Chloe kept her sights on him. The second they took their eyes of Jesse he’d stab them in the back. She could feel that to her bones.

Catherine must have too because lowered the shotgun right at his chest, her normally warm voice coming out cold and hard leaving no question of what she was capable of. “I ever see you put your hands on one of my girls again, boy, and I’ll fill your backside with so much buckshot your bastard children will rattle when they walk. You hearing me on that?”

Jesse dipped his head and gave a short irritated nod. He waited until she raised her gun away from his chest and moved off before bending at the waist to sweep his hat off the ground. Most of his boys went back to drinking, a few of them leading him to a table near the back where he could lick his wounds. Her wary green eyes tracked his progress until he was hidden by shadow and smoke.

Aubrey bit down on the end of the cigar and moved to start clearing some of the mess of broken tables and chairs that the fight had caused. She spared a glance at Chloe already in Beca’s arms, the two of them reassuring each other with softly spoken words and tender touches. She couldn’t see Jesse but she could feel his eyes on them, all of them.

“He can’t be trusted.” Stacie stooped and hefted what was left of a table top and sighed at the damage. It couldn’t be fixed but Aubrey was fairly certain that Stacie was already working out how to use the parts to make something else. The tall brunette turned her head to meet Aubrey’s gaze, her voice hushed so it wouldn’t carry. “I made a mistake Bree, askin’ for them to help. I know that now.”

Aubrey stacked a few chair legs together and sighed. She took a moment to pull the cigar from her lips and nodded. “Yeap.” It was less than comforting she knew but this was not the time for comfort. This was the time for planning and watching. “But we’re in it now so we’re just gonna have to ride this out to the end, love.”

Stacie nodded her head and dragged the relatively whole pieces to the side wall for repair later. She bent again to pick up the pile that Aubrey had gathered and sighed. Arms full of splintered wood bits she jerked her head at Beca and Chloe without looking over at them. “Think either one of them is gonna forgive me any time soon?”

“Nope.” Stacie’s lips turned down in a frown and Aubrey reached out to tug her ear in an affectionately playful gesture. Her fingers lingering as they traced along Stacie’s jaw. The other woman tipped her head, filling Aubrey’s hand with her cheek. “But they’ll put it aside for now. By the time we’re down South none of us will care to remember this or him ever again. Things will be alright. You’ll see.”

Her mate’s smile was wide and she brought their foreheads together in a soft bump. “I love you Aubrey Posen. With all of my heart, darlin’.”

She knew that of course but it was always nice to hear. I love you had never been a phrase used in her father’s home. I love you was for the weak of heart, the weak of spirit, and those that were too soft for the Lord’s good work. Her father used to say ‘I love you is the balm mothers use to soothe scared children’, it was not meant for any other purpose. Certainly he never showed her any ounce of love in her whole damned life. Aubrey wasn’t even sure he knew how to love, or be loved. She was however sure that he would condemn them both to the fiery pits of Hell for even uttering the words to each other. Truth was she was damn starved for those words that tripped so easily from Stacie’s lips, and she knew she’d never tire of hearing them. She’d do anything to she had to, defy God if she must, just to hear Stacie say it all one more time.

“Are you two done making moon eyes at each other or what?” They didn’t break eye contact at Emmy’s familiar teasing tone.

Stacie gave her forehead another tiny bump and pulled back with an exaggerated sigh of mock annoyance. “Do you mind? We’re having a moment, Em.”

“I don’t mind.” Aubrey chuckled when Emily pulled out a chair that had survived the fight and sat down patiently to wait. Her lips curled in a genuinely happy smile and she rested her chin in her hand. “I can wait.”

Aubrey cleared her throat to keep the chuckle from escaping and turning into a full blown laugh and put her cigar back between her lips. “I’m gonna check on Chloe and Beca. You got this?” At Stacie’s nod she turned and brushed past Emily, tugging a braided pigtail as she passed. Emily leaned to the side and shoulder bumped her hip with a smile. This was her family now, a place where I love you was more than just a platitude like I’m sorry, and nothing to be ashamed of sharing. And she’d be damned if she let Jesse, or her brother, or anyone else take it from her.

She took the few short steps over to Beca and Chloe and eyed her best friend critically. “Anything broke?”

Chloe shook her head and gave her a grin. “Nah. I gave better’n I got. Got me a few loose teeth is all.” She winced when her grin tugged painfully at her split lip and Aubrey nudged Beca out of the way to get a better look at it. “It’s not bad Bree. Caleb and Conner have given me worse rough housin’ in the barn. I’ve been kicked harder by Old Sally harder than he could punch. This is just a scratch.” Aubrey laughed a bit knowing exactly how hard Old Sally, the Beale family mule, could kick.

“Just a scratch she says. I oughta go over there and gut him for putting his hands on you.” Beca nudged Aubrey back out of the way so she could hover protectively over Chloe. It didn’t bother Aubrey, not in the least. She’d have done the same if it had been Stacie, so she stepped back and leaned against the bar, her shoulder brushing Chloe’s. “I’ll kill him for this you know.”

Aubrey believed with every drop of her being that Beca would do just that with little to no regard for their current situation. It was worrisome, enough for her to reach out and grip Beca by the wrist so that the smaller woman would actually look at her. “I do not rest one bit of blame on you for wanting bury him. But now is not the time.”

Beca pulled out of Aubrey’s grip and let out a frustrated breath. “I know that. Okay? I know.” She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly and scuffed the ground with a toe. “I never wanted to see him again. Now he’s here and…I dunno if I can do it anymore. I don’t  **want** to do it anymore.” The smaller woman raised her furious gaze to Aubrey dead in the eye daring her to try and make Beca accept this situation.

She gave a nod and a sigh. “I know Becs. I’m sorry it’s gotta be this way and I’m sorry this is hurting you, if I thought it would make everything better I’d shoot him myself.” It wasn’t a lie, Jesse was a coward sure but he was worse than that. His rage at Beca’s rejection said enough, it was a spoiled child’s reaction, not the reaction of a real man or even just a decent human being. That changed things for Aubrey, it gave her all the incentive she needed to put him in the ground without hesitation. Especially if she felt their safety might be compromised, and it very well might. She just wasn’t prepared to do it quite yet.

Chloe slid her arms around Beca from behind and hooked her chin on her love’s shoulder. “Bree is right. I hate him as much as you do but this ain’t the time.” Aubrey wasn’t fooled one lick by Chloe’s conciliatory tone. She’d known her friend for too long to be just believe it was over for her without a fight but she shrugged it off because that was a weight to bear for another day.

“Right now we got work to do. Benji says The Sisters and La Muda are ready to move.” She gave a nod in the direction of the rest of their crew having a drink just off to the side. “I figure if we head out now we’ll still have time for a quick kip before we gotta get to work. We’ll worry about Jesse when we get back.”

Beca took a deep settling breath and nodded. “You’re right, both of you. Let’s just get this done and go our separate ways as soon as possible. Next time Cat’s double barrel won’t stop what he’s got comin’.” The brunette gave a low whistle to get their team’s attention and jerked her head at the door. “Let’s ride, we got a lot of ground to cover.”

Aubrey watched them all head out after Beca except Stacie who was still talking to Emily. She gave a slight smile at the playful shoves between the two as she joined them. “Time to go, Conrad.”

“Alright, you mind what I said Em. Stay away from those Swanson Boys and you keep quiet about your special friend. That’s our little secret, yeah?” At Emily’s nod, Stacie stood and gave the girl a brief hug. She waited a few moments after Emily had trotted away to focus on Aubrey. “How mad is she?”

Aubrey took the time to stub out her cigar and pocket what was left while Stacie grabbed their gear from where she’d dropped it at the start of the fight before answering. “Plenty mad but mostly at Jesse. But one or both of them is gonna do something foolish that’s gonna get us caught or killed. They’re not thinking straight because they’re too angry.”

Stacie nodded and slung a saddle bag over one shoulder as she handed the other to Aubrey. “Guess that means it’s up to us to finish it quick and clean then.” It wasn’t that they wanted to take the satisfaction of handling Jesse away from Chloe and Beca, they just wanted to take away the temptation of it before one of them broke at the wrong damned time.

She hefted her bag and started for the stable with Stacie at her side. Aubrey reached out a hand and laced their fingers, a gesture she usually didn’t do quite so casually. Of course she wasn’t quite so casual about murder either. It made her think hard on what they’d said about Avery being a problem. She knew he would be and already was but she didn’t know if she would be able to plan his death as neatly as she was planning Jesse’s. Though if he even hinted at a direct threat to Stacie she’d change her mind in an instant.

Stacie tugged her hand, slowing them to a stop before they reached the stable. Aubrey turned to face her and couldn’t help the smile that crept across her face at the way Stacie looked down at her. Her eyes were deep with concern as she tugged Bree closer. “You sure you’re good with this Bree? We can find another way besides the bullet if you’re not. We don’t really need him dead, just out of the way.” Stacie always did seem to know just the right words to ease her nagging worry, and Aubrey loved her all the more for it. Her father was wrong, love wasn’t for the weak, it was for those strong enough to brave it.

She smile deepened and she raised up on her toes to kiss Stacie with a soft brush of her lips. “We’ll do what needs to be done because we have to. I’m square with that as long as I’m with you.” The smile she got was enough confirmation that they were okay and Aubrey led them forward. She knew one day she’d be judged by God on all her misdeeds but she had utter faith he’d see the good intention in every single one of them. And if He didn’t she wouldn’t be alone. Not ever again.


	10. Chapter 10 - Aubrey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that don’t know La Muda is Spanish for The Mute. I’m sure we can all guess which Bella that would be.

“Go go go!” The blast ahead of them on either side of the tracks shook the ground a little but Aubrey barely felt it under her horse’s thundering hooves. Roan moved effortlessly over the rough ground and she tucked her body even tighter down behind his head, the reins tight in her fist. Another blast up ahead boomed out and she could tell the train was starting to slow enough that they were able to ride up along the side of the last car. She eased back a little until they were even with the end and she could grab the rail.

She dropped the knotted reins over the horn of her saddle and used both hands to grip railing, pulling herself onto the train with a grunt of effort. Her horse slowed and peeled away from the train, Aubrey smirked and pulled her hat down a little more before climbing the ladder up to the roof. The wind was hard and pushed against her chest making her pause to steady her balance before running along the top of the train to leap lightly over the gap between cars. Almost to the engine she chanced a glance to her right to make sure that Beca was already racing to intercept the train. Timing was everything.

The train wasn’t slowing anymore and Aubrey realized that something was wrong. Stacie’s explosions were placed perfectly and timed so that the conductor would stop the train thinking the tracks were blown without actually damaging the rails at all. But the train wasn’t slowing, it was gaining speed. Aubrey took the last jump to the car closest to the engine and strode to the edge carefully and peered down into the coal tender. The conductor was shoveling quickly as he could, keeping the train moving faster. If she couldn’t slow them down none of the girls would ever catch up and she’d be alone on the train when it rolled right into town.

Aubrey was just about to leap down and skirt the side of the tender when she realized the conductor wasn’t alone. A uniformed arm stretched out to poke the conductor roughly in the back with a revolver. If she jumped down now she’d be seen and probably shot, if she didn’t jump down now there was no getting the train to slow in time. So she jumped down and crouched by the handrail before moving stealthily along the coal tender.

“That’s enough old man. We don’t want to overshoot the town, just stay ahead of those bandits.” She knew the voice and sighed. Avery. Of course it would be her brother, the question was how did he know? She inched forward, drawing a gun from her holster and cocking it. She stuck her head out just a little to peek and only had enough time to fling herself back against the coal wagon with the switching post sign nearly took her face off. As soon as it was clear she lunged forward around the front of the coal tender and raised her gun to her brother’s chest.

“Drop it.”

To his credit he didn’t flinch at all, his lips quirking momentarily into a smile but he did lower his gun slightly. Avery leaned casually against the frame of the cab, gun still held pointed at the conductor. “I wondered which one of you it’d be. God must have answered my prayers.” He made a show of twirling his revolver before holstering it and holding his hands up. “Father is so disappointed in you, Aubrey. Mother doesn’t even mention your name.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes at that and gestured for him to move away from the controls. They were just little digs meant to hurt her but she knew better than to take his bait. He smiled at her and shrugged. “Move Avery, I’m stopping this train.”

“Go ahead then, stop it. But if you want me to move you’re going to have to shoot me to do it. I have the law behind me and the weight of the United States Government. I’m doing my job here.”

She sighed and raised her gun higher but they both knew she wasn’t going to shoot him. “Move damnit!”

Avery scoffed at her moved his hands slowly to his belt so he could unbuckle it. “You’re not going to shoot an unarmed man let alone your brother. I know you’ve fallen in with this lot of harlots but you’re not that far gone.” He pulled off his gun belt and threw it to the side, moving his whole body in front of the controls.

There were only two options. Shoot him and stop the train, or try to get past him. She made the decision in a split second. Aubrey kicked, her booted foot connecting with his knee so hard it buckled and he dropped down with a pained grunt, Bree rushing forward to pull the whistle in two short bursts before pulling back the lever for acceleration. The train jerked as the air brakes engaged trying to slow the steel rocket without skipping off the tracks. Avery used the momentum to throw all his weight into her legs taking them both down to the floor of the cab.

Feeling his rough hands pulling her back against his chest in a bruising grip made fear spike through her. It was paralyzing and her brain worked double time bringing up memories that scarred deeper than any mark on her skin. Avery’s arm was tight against her throat, keeping her in place while he pulled her gun from her holster. His breath rasped out hot against her ear and the bile rose up cutting off what little air she could gasp in under the choking pressure of his forearm. “A little birdy told me you’d be making a move soon and I knew you harlots would take this train. You can thank that swine fucker, Swanson for the soldiers your friends are going to find in every car. You’re not walking away from this, none of you. I’m gonna teach that whore of yours a lesson too. Just you wait, there will be punishments for all your sins.”

The fear turned into icy panic at the thought of anything Avery might have planned for Stacie. The shock of it releasing her paralysis enough for her to bring one hand up to fight his grip, the other struggling with her belt buckle. Her nails scraped at it just catching the edge of the small knife concealed within. With her last struggled breath she prayed as hard as she ever had, the blade sliding free of the buckle felt like a blessing directly from God. She brought her hand up blindly at Avery’s unprotected face over her shoulder. The blade sunk in and ground to a stop when it met bone, a hot spill of blood splashing over her fingers.

He screamed and released her, rolling away in pain. Aubrey took a shaky breath before finding her gun and regaining her feet.  Her brother clawed at his face, pulling the blade from it with another scream of pain. “How about an eye for an eye, brother?” He turned his bloody face to her as he rose to his knees a pained grimace of rage pulling his split skin wide. She could barely stand to look at him, her own rage filling her chest a deep burn. Bree brought her foot up and kicked him backward toward the catwalk to the tender, she raised one gun to the forgotten conductor as a reminder not to move. The other leveled at Avery’s head. “Train is moving slow enough. If you jump you might survive. If you don’t jump…” She pulled the hammer back on her gun.

Avery looked behind him at the still fast moving ground then back to Aubrey. He blinked his good eye at her once and leapt without a hesitant thought just as her finger squeezed the trigger. Breath heaved in her chest as she stared at the space he had been for a long moment. She holstered her gun and steeled herself with one last deep breath. It burned her throat but the fact that she was breathing at all gave her a savage joy.

“You wanna live, mister?” The conductor nodded at her when she finally turned to give him her full attention. His head bobbled in the affirmative and he raised his hands up quickly in surrender. “Good choice. Now sit.”

The old man did immediately, almost too relieved to slump onto his stool with his back against the wall of the cab. Aubrey didn’t think he was going to be any trouble and was probably scared out of his pants but she needed him to understand his situation.

“What’s your name old timer?” She lowered her gun but kept it naked in her hand.

“Earl Ma’am.”

She gave a slight nod and gave a look over her shoulder to see the train was nearly at a stop, the sound of gunshots ringing out clearly now. “You a God fearing man, Earl?” He nodded quickly again and she believed it. Even if he had spent his whole life a sinner she was pretty sure staring down the barrel of her gun would make a believer out of anyone. “Good. You stay here and you’ll make it through this to see another Sunday service. But if this train starts moving again…I will come back and shoot you. Understand?”

Aubrey didn’t wait for his final nod of agreement before she turned to make her way back to the first car. A bullet whizzed by her ear in a flash of heat making her jump the last few feet to the cover of the car. It was utter pandemonium as passengers screamed and cowered in their seats, others diving for cover from ricocheting bullets. Stacie in the center of the car was struggling with two soldiers in a fist fight. There were three others either dead or out cold sprawled out around the car.

Stacie elbowed one of the soldier’s hard making a little room for herself. Her green eyes flashing when she caught sight of Aubrey watching with amusement as she fought her opponents. “Little help here, Bree?”

The blonde chuckled and used the butt of her gun to knock one of the soldiers out. He fell like a sack of grain to the floor and she brought her gun up, sighting along the barrel before she pulled the trigger in the blink of an eye. The sharp crack echoed around them but the final soldier dropped dead. “It’s a trap.”

Stacie looked at a cut on her forearm checking to see how back the damage was. “You don’t say.” It didn’t look too deep and Stacie shrugged it off as nothing, choosing to tie her bandana around it for the time being. “I’ll give you one good guess as to who sold us out.”

Aubrey gave a short nod of her head and kicked the door to the cab open. “Avery took great pleasure in telling me it was Jesse.” She raised her gun and shot up into the air, turning from Stacie’s concerned gaze to the occupants of the cabin. “Y’all have will have to excuse the delay. If you’ll kindly debark the train you may remain in possession of your lives.”

She wasn’t surprised when they all got up and nervously skirted around her to get off the now fully stopped train. Stacie rested a warm hand on her shoulder and she allowed herself a second to soak up the comfort of it before she pulled away and followed the passengers out the door. She didn’t have time to process what had happened between her and Avery. Not now and maybe not for a good long while. One thing was certain in her mind however, she was going to have to kill her brother. It was another name on an ever growing list of people she had to murder but it didn’t bother her as much as it had the day before. In the back of her mind she had always known he would do horrible things if he ever caught any of them but hearing the confirmation from his own lips was sobering in a way nothing else was.

“Bree? You okay?”

Aubrey looked over her shoulder at Stacie and shrugged. “We don’t have time for aught else Stace. Unhitch the rest of the train, I’ll see to the girls in the other cars. Reckon they could use a hand right about now.” Stacie didn’t argue it but there was a weight to her gaze that Aubrey felt like a warm caress. When she was ready to talk about it she knew that Stacie would be there to hear it all and hold her close to help bear the weight of what she’d done. What she was planning to do.

She put it out of her mind for the moment and moved on to the next car guns already drawn and ready for the next fight. Later. She’d worry about Avery and Jesse later.


	11. Chapter 11 - Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long…but Aubrey in a three piece suit took control of my life for a bit.

Some days the job was just the job and as routine as Sunday school but some days there were unexpected surprises. Today was one of those surprise days. Chloe ducked a wild swing from a soldier, his momentum putting him off balance enough for her to act. She took two quick steps and used a seat to spring from as she brought her fist down hard against his jaw. He staggered for a second then dropped to the ground in a heap. The redhead swooped down and picked up the gun she’d dropped earlier, aimed and shot the solider that was starting to rise up from behind Beca with his bayonet poised to strike.

The other woman flinched then looked at the heavy body behind her with a curled lip and a nod of thanks to Chloe. There was a flicker of something in the other woman’s midnight eyes that instinctively made her duck down just as the shorter woman let two blades fly from her hands with a flick of her wrist. They sunk home in the chests of two soldiers behind her. Chloe winked at her mate and raised a gun and pulled the trigger, the shot startled the passengers and she gave a low whistle making anyone trying to be brave stop short.

The brakes on the train suddenly pulled making the car lurch and Beca tumbled forward nearly rolling the length of the car before they both stopped. Chloe couldn’t help but chuckle as Beca pulled herself to her feet and shook it off. The redhead eased down the center of the train car to the exit door.

Several people cowered away in fear and she kicked the seat of the nearest one. “G’wan git. Everyone off the train if you value your lives and the lives of your loved ones. NOW!” They rose up still trembling with fear but they were willing to trample each other to get out of the car even if the train itself was still screeching to a halt. When they came to a dead stop and most of the people had filed off the train Aubrey pushed her way in.

“Y’all alright?”

They nodded and Chloe jerked her head toward one of the bodies laying on the floor. “We’re good but them not so much. How’d they know?”

Beca knelt to look over one of the soldiers. He was still alive and she took the time to wrap her bandana around his arm in a tourniquet. “Think it’s pretty obvious how they knew. Jesse or one of his boys musta told.”

Aubrey nodded slowly in agreement of Beca’s words, her green eyes graying out with her wealth of pain she was dealing with. “So Avery told me.” Chloe and Beca froze and turned to eye Aubrey who only shrugged. Each of them feeling the weight of her quiet words.

“He still alive?” Chloe worked hard at keeping her tone from being hopeful. This was the blonde’s brother they were talking about and it wouldn’t do to show just how much she wished that he was dead. Aubrey looked torn up enough about it as it was.

“He was when he jumped off the train a bit back.” Chloe moved to Aubrey’s side and gave her arm a gentle squeeze of comfort. She didn’t figure there was any time for them to work through that now though and they weren’t about to ride back and see if he was still alive.

“Our girls alright?” Beca stood and pulled her knives from the bodies of soldiers, no longer looking at either of them. She wiped the blades on the uniforms before tucking them into place on her chest rig. There were other things they had best be minding at the moment sure, but Chloe knew it was Beca’s way of focusing on something other than her own anger at the situation.

“Yes, Dingo, Ace, and Florencia have loaded up the living soldiers and passengers into the last few boxes, mostly cargo cars. It’s a tight fit and a bit less comfortable than these here fancy cars but it’s not long of a wait til we clear out.”  Aubrey took out her revolver, opened the cylinder and tipped it back to let the spent shells fall out. She was as purposeful as and focused as Beca cleaning her knives, each taking the time to think out their next step but Chloe had already come to a conclusion none of them would like.

Stacie stepped lightly up into the car and leaned against the wall. “We’ve got ‘em unhitched, and the girls are watching passengers. Best set out before Dingo starts robbing folks for trail rations.”

Chloe gave a chuckle and shook her head. “She’s a growin’ girl, she needs ta eat.” Neither Beca nor Aubrey said a word so she took the bulls by the horn and nudged a body with her toe. “Looks like this is where we part ways for now. Wasn’t how we wanted it to be, isn’t how it should be, but someone’s got to get to the caverns to warn Kat and Emmy and the rest. Train still needs to get on for this to work because we got one shot to get the hell out of the territory.”

“We’ll ride out.” All eyes drifted to Aubrey who shrugged and pulled her hat off to run a gloved hand through her hair. “Stacie and I are the fastest riders next to you two. But this beefs our exit. We’re out of road no matter how we look at it.”

Chloe cleared her throat and rocked on her heels. Stacie gave her a significant look and a nod. She thought this might happen, especially with the way Jesse had taken to lingering on around them. They had been careful in their talk but they were in close quarters with the Swanson boys and she didn’t for one second think they had been entirely safe in planning. She suspected that Jesse had been using a few of his boys to eavesdrop so he could be everywhere at once in case something slipped.

“Let’s just get going. Get Kat and Emmy to our spot and through the tunnel to the mine. We’ll be loading up train.” Chloe pulled Aubrey into a tight hug, just in case it was the last time they saw each other. The blonde wrapped arms around her just as tightly and kissed her cheek. “Don’t get dead.”

They released each other reluctantly and she moved to Stacie giving her just the same warm squeeze. She hated that they had to split up. But they couldn’t just leave good folks stranded with the rest of the Army and a posse probably on the way. It had to be done. Chloe cleared the empty shells in her gun while Beca and Stacie grasped forearms before pulling each other into a tight embrace. Beca let Stacie go with a playful shove and moved shyly in front of Aubrey. Aubrey’s smile gentled and she leaned into the shorter woman, the hug no less meaningful than the one she had given Chloe herself.

“Be seeing you two soon.” Aubrey pulled her Stetson low and bounded down the three stairs to the ground. Stacie followed and Beca let out a deep breath.

Chloe waited a beat before she turned to the soldier still slouched in a seat to look over his wound. “He’ll live, might lose the arm but he’ll live. Becs, g’wan and get some of those big strapping menfolk to come help him off the train.”

Beca nodded and looked around the cabin. “Might as well get them to grab the bodies as well.” She hesitated and Chloe raised her gaze from retrying the tourniquet to watch Beca put her harp to her lips and give it a thoughtful twang. “Chlo…”

“It’s not time to worry yet, Cowgirl.” There would be plenty of time for that when they got caught. If they got caught. But Chloe wasn’t planning on that happening any time soon. She finished loading her gun and moved in close to Beca, one hand pulling the brunette to her by the chest rig. Chloe brought their bodies close and leaned into a deep reassuring kiss. Beca melted into her after a moment’s resistance and her lips curled into a wider smile. Chloe bumped her forehead gently against Beca’s and pulled back with a deep sigh. “We’re alright still, just gotta play the hand we’re dealt, but we’re gonna be alright. We can still ride this plan out but we gotta hurry.”

Beca nodded with a slow smirk. “I don’t know what worries me more, the fact that they know our plan, or the fact that you’re not worried about it.” She leaned back and shook her head with a wild laugh. “You know something I don’t?”

Chloe raised a shoulder in a half shrug but chose not to say anything when the wounded man groaned, the pain finally rousing him to consciousness. “Maybe, But it’s gonna cost you if you want to know my secrets.”

Beca’s eyes danced with amusement and she hooked her thumbs in her chest harness and ambled to the stairs down. “I always pay what’s due. Always.”

“Hm, I’ll hold you to that Cowgirl.”


	12. Chapter 12 - Stacie

They didn’t waste much more time, stopping only to hug Ace, Dingo and Flo before mounting their horses. Stacie settled into the saddle, reins gripped firmly in one hand as she pulled Rowdy’s head around toward the caverns. There was a good chance that they were late already but they had to try and get Emmy and Kat out. “You ready?”

Aubrey gave her a short nod and spurred her horse forward. Stacie leaned forward as well, thighs tightening around her horse’s middle as he lunged to keep up with Roan. She let Aubrey lead the way, her horse edging ahead by a nose. It wasn’t as if they had time to talk about things while they rode but she could tell that Aubrey was deep in her own head about everything that was going on. She wished desperately that she could reassure her mate but there would be time for that later. She hoped.

There was a haze on the horizon as the sun started to sink lower in the sky and Aubrey eased her pace and pointed to it. “No way we can overtake them from here without being seen.”

Stacie gave a nod and raised herself up in her stirrups to get a closer look but that far off all she could tell was that it was what was left of Avery’s battalion. They’d taken out a few soldiers on the train, subdued more than they killed, but the majority of the unit was still riding. It was actually something in their favor and she scrunched her nose as she thought it over. “Lot of infantry, and they’re moving slow. If we could just get some cover…”

She scanned the surrounding area but they were out in the open with nothing to hide behind. Aubrey’s horsed danced skittishly, probably picking up on his rider’s unease. “I have an idea.”

Well at least one of them did. Stacie gave a nod of agreement and Aubrey pointed in the opposite direction from the sluggishly moving Army. Stacie blinked at the woman once then shook her head in confusion. Aubrey couldn’t possibly mean they just take off and leave. That wasn’t possible. A deep questioning frown etched itself on Stacie’s face. “Bree…”

“We can get around the crag from the other side, I think we can climb our way up the tower and into the mess hall.”

Stacie bit her lip but nodded her agreement. She wasn’t half the climber that Aubrey was, then again even a Billy goat would have trouble keeping up with her girl. She trusted that the blonde would know the surest way up the face because they sure as hell didn’t have time for anything else. Aubrey gave a nod and spurred her horse forward.

They rode on for near another hour before they reached the far side. Aubrey slid off Roan, quickly pulling her rifle out of the riding holster to slip over her head. She looked up and skirted the face of the mountain, face set and brows furrowed as she scanned. Stacie grabbed a peg out of her kit and hammered it into the ground so she could tie the horses down. She was done by the time Aubrey’s voice rang out with confidence.

“Here, right here. Watch where I put my hands and feet and follow me up. Won’t be bad once we reach this small peak.”

“Small she says…” Stacie tipped her head back and looked up the face with a deep sigh. Lord, the things she did for the people she loved. “Probably could blow a hole in this mountain faster but okay. Sure. We’ll do this.”

Aubrey’s laugh was magical and Stacie’s next sigh was that of a woman lost in love. She followed the blonde’s every move finding that what she lacked in skill she made up for in reach. It helped her get through the treacherous climb but by the time they reached the top her shoulders were tight and burned like the devil. She carefully worked her leaden arms out, stretching to try and ease the twitch of muscles.

Stacie looked over the edge at the horses and shook her head. “Think they’ll be alright down there?”

“Should be. Won’t be as hard getting down as it was going up. Come on.”

She followed Aubrey down a low rocky slope and along a high ledge. “How far along do you think the unit is?”

Aubrey moved with fluid grace, sure footed and agile as she leapt from one precipice to the next. “Hard to say. Looked like a fair amount were on foot, probably at marching pace…we might just make it. So long as there isn’t already a unit of men in place.”

They really had no way of knowing how many men were with Avery, or how many more were coming. Stacie’s foot slipped and she started to slide backward down a shale ridge, dirt and rock sliding under her like a dusty sluggish wave. One she was unable to slow the heavy tug of and keep her balance. Her world teetered for a moment before Aubrey’s sure grip clasped down on her wrist, steadying and lifting to help her back up the side.

“Jesus….”

“You okay?”

Aubrey’s green eyes were filled with quiet concern, searching her face for a hint of distress. Stacie gave a nod and when Aubrey gave a like one in return and started to turn she gripped her mate around the waist and pulled her back. She just needed a second to reconnect after that close call. The blonde turned in her arms, pulling the hat from her head. The wind lifted the pale locks up and away from Bree’s tanned face and Stacie’s breath caught in her chest.

“You and me Stace. We catch each other. Always.” Her smile widened and Aubrey leaned forward for a soft lingering kiss before she pulled back and put her hat back on. “C’mon, you can be sweet on me later.”

“Oh I promise you I will.” Aubrey gave another one of her magic laughs and Stacie felt it echo in her heart. She would follow that woman right off the highest peak of any mountain so long as she got to hear Aubrey laugh just like that as they fell. It could be the last thing she heard in life but she’d be grateful for it.

When Aubrey stopped stuck her head into a tiny slit in the rock face Stacie knew she was going to have issues. She watched as Bree pulled off her rifle and loosened her gun belt, dropping it to the ground hastily. “Aubrey.”

“It won’t take but a minute for us to…”

“Bree…Aubrey stop.” The blonde stopped and gave her a confused frown. “I think you might be misjudging the size of that crevice. Being…blessed…the way I am….it’s not happening.” Aubrey’s bright eyes trailed down her face and neck to rest on her chest.

“Oh.” Her eyes took on a distant look and Stacie was amused to see that Aubrey had to give herself a good shake to get her focus back.

“You’re gonna have to get them without me, love.” Aubrey looked back at the crack then Stacie and gave a nod. “Be safe.”

Aubrey yanked Stacie forward by the front of her shirt and kissed her hard and fast, tongue dipping into her mouth with a desperate need to claim. “If I don’t come back…”

“You’re coming back to me Aubrey, or I’ll dive into Hell to come get you. Understand?”

There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to for Aubrey. To protect her, or save her, maybe even just to make her happy. Aubrey was her candle in the dark, the light that kept her safe. So yes. She’d wrestle Lucifer himself to be where Aubrey was. In this life or the next. As Aubrey disappeared into the dark of the mountain side without her guns, she couldn’t help but wonder if that wrestling match might be sooner than either of them wanted or intended.


	13. Chapter 13 - Aubrey

She didn’t want to leave Stacie behind but she didn’t dare look back at the other woman. One sight of Stacie standing alone on the bluff would keep her from doing what must be done. Aubrey sucked in a deep breath and slid through the narrow fissure into the dark cool interior of the mountain. She could hear the sounds of people laughing and talking, even the faint sound of someone playing a fiddle, but she couldn’t see them and the ledge was far too narrow for her to lean over. She only had one option really, to climb down into the mess hall and search for Kat and Emmy.

Carefully and as quietly as she could she eased down the ladder and peeked around the edge of the wall. Plenty of Jesse’s boys were sitting around drinking, completely unaware of what rode their way. If they knew, if they had even the hint of suspicion they would all be armed to the teeth and ready for a fight. Aubrey hummed softly to herself as she considered how helpful that may be for their retreat. A thick, hairy paw landed on her shoulder and instinct took over.

Aubrey whirled and yanked the body close to her, close enough to bring her elbow into the face of the man that dared grab her. The pained squeal he let out was too loud and too obvious and she kicked at his knee to drop him enough for her to wrap her arms around his neck in a choke hold Avery had used on her far too many times as children. “Shhhhhh. Sleep.”

She waited until she felt the weight of his body sag against her before she released him and pushed him away roughly. It was just another nameless man on Jesse’s team but one she didn’t need touching her. Cautiously she slipped out of the shadow and crept around the edge of the mess until she reached the cook area. With a sigh of relief at not being seen she ducked into the alcove and grabbed a gunny sack from the work table.

“Aubrey? What are…oh Lord. Who’s dead?” Kat’s voice lowered as she spoke, trying to keep secret any bad news she expected.

Aubrey swallowed hard and shook her head. “No one yet. But a whole heap of us any minute if I don’t get you and Emmy out of here right now.”

“What do you mean? What’s going on?”

“Mama! Mama they have him! I know they do!”

Before she could explain Emily came careening around the corner into the small room, nearly colliding with Katherine in her haste. They both turned to her confused and alarmed by the trail of tears sliding down Emily’s face. “Who baby, who has…oh no…”

The question didn’t need an answer. They knew who Emily meant. Her Deputy Benji was the only ‘him’ that Emmy ever spoke of. And the only other person that could cause this much distress in the younger Junk woman. Aubrey slapped her hand down on the table and shook her head in frustration. He wasn’t important to them now. Not now that the plan was underway and he’d given them all the information they had ever asked him for, but he was theirs, for better or worse and they couldn’t let him rot in Penitence. Especially when he was so important to Emily.

“The Army is a little more than a league out by my best guess. There’s no time to waste, I need to get you two out of here and we’ll worry about the good Deputy later.”

Emily’s back straightened even as she clung to her mother and she turned her gaze on Aubrey. It was fierce and determined and despite the fact that she wasn’t going to allow Emmy a say in things, she was proud of her grit none the less.

“I’m not leaving without Benji.”

“Emmy…” Kat tried to console her daughter but Emily was having none of it.

“No! I’ll be damned if I let that sonofabitch Sheriff hurt him so if you don’t want to help me fine! But I’m not leaving without him.”

Aubrey’s lips twitched with the effort not to smile at Emily cursing and dropped her head to hide her face. She couldn’t even find fault with that kind of loyalty because it was the same thing that bound her to Stacie. And the same kind of love and loyalty that bound them to Chloe and Beca. She’d die before she let any of them suffer at the hands of the Sheriff. Or her brother. It was a sobering enough thought and she nodded quickly.

“Alright Em…alright. We’ll get him but not this second. First we run. Then we fight.” Kat gave Emily a reassuring squeeze and the younger woman nodded hesitantly.

Aubrey reached out and gripped her shoulder trying to convey sincerity of her words. “We won’t leave him behind. I promise. But we aren’t any good to him dead or caught ourselves.”

When she was sure she wouldn’t get any more guff she peeked back out to the mess and nodded. It looked as if no one were the wiser. Kat moved in close, standing at her shoulder eyeing the people littered about the room. “Not all of them are Swansons. Not that any of them are innocent, we’re all hiding here for a reason. But not all of them are caught up in your war Aubrey. You let them face the Army without warning then that blood is on you. All four of you.”

Damnit. She knew Kat was right and had already been trying to decide if she should warn them or not. Aubrey gave a nod and pushed back. “You and Emmy take the ladder up to the tower. Stacie is up there waiting for you, y’all get. You hear? All three of you. You get to the girls and you get the hell out of here.”

“Aub…”

Kat opened her mouth and Aubrey shook her head, green eyes narrowing as her stubborn streak took hold.

“I said git. Now.” Kat knew trying would be useless but Aubrey could tell she wanted to argue until she had no breath left to speak. Just as they were about to turn and walk away Aubrey almost lost her resolve, reaching out to stop Katherine from going further. “Tell her…anything you have to. Anything to get her to go. So long as you tell her…tell her I loved her.”

And she did. She loved Stacie with every single part of her being. There was not an ocean she would not cross, not a mountain she would not climb, nor an army she would not face for Stacie Conrad. There was nothing to her without Stacie and she desperately hoped that one day Stacie would forgive her for dying. Because she wasn’t going to survive what was coming. Probably no one left in the caverns would.

“You’re not dead yet so you can tell her yourself.” Kat’s no nonsense tone made her smile a bit sadly but she gave a nod. It was easier to just let Kat believe she was going to be fine. “You’re gonna fight until you’ve got nothing left to shoot at Aubrey. Because that’s who you are, and because you know she needs you still. So you aren’t going to die.”

And with that she shoved the shotgun she had kept stored on a high shelf against Aubrey’s chest and pushed Emily out to the main hall. The cold metal in her hands helped settle her and push back all the regret and doubt that lingered in her mind. There was no time for that, there was only time for action. Aubrey ducked down the hall to the cave where they kept all their supplies and filled the sack with as many shells for the shotgun as she could find.

The blonde worked furiously, rummaging through boxes and bags until she came across a large crate with a bold letter S painted on it. Aubrey kicked over a few tarps and baskets until she found the pry bar and wrenched open the lid. A slow smile graced her face, widening until a chuckle spilled out of her mouth from deep in her chest.

“That’s my girl….”

Quickly as she could she packed what she dared take in the sack and hoisted it carefully over her shoulder. The shotgun rested against the other and she slipped back down the hall as quiet as a church mouse. Emmy and Kat were nowhere to be seen but she suspected they were already gone up the tower. Someone came around the side of the wall blindly and ran into her. He smelled like sweat and dirt, which wasn’t uncommon, but his soft doughy body bounced off hers and she knew who it was immediately.

“Hey…Aubrey. What the…what are you doing here?” Bumper gave her a confused look then frowned. “What’s all th…ow!”

There wasn’t really time to explain so she shoved him out of the way and walked into the center of the main hall. It seemed almost as if no one noticed her at all the way they all just kept on. With a growl she placed the sack on the ground and climbed on to a table currently being used for a game of cards. Aubrey pulled off a glove and raised her hand to her lips to blow out a shrill whistle that silenced even the furthest corners of the cave.

“Listen up. The Army is damn near here. I reckon they’ll cut y’all down just as soon as look at you. You’ve got half a tick to get armed before they ride through the pass.”

Bumper rubbed his shoulder from when she’d pushed him into the rough wall and strutted forward, chest all out like the Beale family prized cock. “So you say. How would the Army even know where to look?”

They weren’t going to believe her. They might even shoot her just for thinking it let alone saying it so she decided to avoid a direct answer. Aubrey took a breath and shook her head. “Because a traitor went and told them where to find us.” It was the best she could do to not outright name him but the way Bumper watched her made her think his mind was on who exactly had told.

Someone else pushed forward from a back table, his voice more of a growl than a human sound. “So what? They want your lot, not us. We should just string you up for them.” It started a round of agreeing laughter but she noted that Bumper was not at all laughing or participating in the joke.

He took a step forward and kicked the chair nearest him. “Y’all shut up now. You think the Army is gonna care about who they shoot? Ain’t we all guilty of something, somewhere?” They ignored him mostly, a few of them maybe listened a little more intently. But for the most part they didn’t care what Aubrey had to say and just assumed ignore her rather than try to argue. Ignore them both. Idiots.

“You’re right about that. They’ll shoot first, the bodies can be sussed out after. Army policy.” He gave her a nod as if he expected that and looked around. There were a lot of men and women in those caverns yet. A few of them looked close enough to believing but they didn’t have time to convince them all. “You can stay if you want to, but if you leave now you might ma…”

The rushed clatter of hooves almost to the mouth of the cave brought all their attention up. There was a tense frozen moment before she leapt down from the table and kicked it over on to its side. The first shot zinged by a group of men to ricochet off the wall and find its home in the face of one of the men still sitting in his chair, cards grasped in his now lifeless hand.

“DOWN!”

They were seasoned fighters, all of them. They knew how to hold themselves in a gunfight. And they knew how to recover from surprise. But it still wasn’t quite fast enough to evade the first few sprays of bullets into the room. Bumper’s heavy body ducked down behind the table with her and she gave a mild grunt. “Told you so.”

“Yeap.” He hefted the shotgun she’d put down earlier and rested it on the edge of the table before pulling the trigger. “I knew it too. You can be a real bitch but ya ain’t no liar.”

It was about all the compliment she would ever get from Bumper so she took it for what it was and let him keep the gun. A bullet winged by her hand as she tried to reach for the sack, finally grabbing it and pulling it toward her cover.

“That’s almost sweet Bumper. Dingo’s been having a real nice effect on you.” He gave her a snort and fired again, taking down a soldier trying to run at them. Around them tables turned over and people scuttled for hiding spots as best they could. Most of them already firing into the void, hoping to hit a target. It was a foolish waste of ammo but she wasn’t about to caution them. A bottle rolled toward her over the uneven ground and she picked it up. It was still mostly full and she smirked. “Stay here.”

“Got no place else to go, Posen.” She dug some shells from the sack and put them near his knee with a pat to his shoulder. It should help him give her some cover. Aubrey scooted out and lunged for another rolling bottle. It was too hard to grab more than a few since most of them were just broken bits of glass and trickles of whiskey scattered on the ground. Another volley of shots peppered the wall just above her head and she tucked down and half crawled back to the table.

It was loud, so loud, with shots echoing in the cavern, too loud to focus on any one area of danger. So she put all her attention to yanking the sleeve off her shirt to tear into rags. She doused them with a little alcohol and stuffed them into the necks of the bottles she’d scavenged. “Hey Bump…”

“Yeah?” He didn’t look at her for longer than a second before firing on another soldier. Bumper Allen was not the person she wished she was back to back with in a gunfight but he wasn’t so bad at the moment. She maybe even felt like they had an understanding between them. Enough to for her to trust him more than she had ever trusted Jesse. At least. Right now.

“Lay out some cover fire for me will ya?” He gave her a nod and loaded the shotgun as she worked to frantically light the rag with her flint kit. It lit up in a brief blaze and she was grateful when it caught fully. Bumper rose slightly and started to shoot into the soldiers spilling into the cave like a swarm of insects. They ducked and scattered from the buckshot but she was right behind Bumper, her height making it easy to throw the glass bottle with all her might to smash against the entrance to the caverns. Fire licked up the wall, consuming the alcohol that had splashed everywhere. Some of it splashing the nearest men and making them scream in pain. Bumper crowed in delight and not for the first time she was reminded of a rooster. She ducked back down and tried to light a second one as he reloaded.

“Got two left, they don’t last long but it will distract them so we can move from here.” He nodded at that but said nothing and she took that to mean he understood her meaning. But just to be on the safe side she continued. “I’ll let these two fly, we bug out. Meet at the train if you survive.”

“You think I might die?” Yes. But she didn’t want to say it so she shrugged and looked around the side of the table to gauge when to throw. It was enough for him and he gave another grunt. “Was it Jesse?” Aubrey turned back to him and gave a short nod making his scowl deepen. “No, ma’am I’m not dying today. I gotta have a little vengeance before I see my maker.” He thumbed back the hammers and raised the gun. They might not be friends, hell they really didn’t even like each other, but it was the most they had ever respected one another she thought.

Aubrey looked at her last two bottles and shook her head. If she was going to die like a sinner she might as well die sinning. She pulled the cork out with her teeth and spit out before taking a long deep pull of the bottle. It burned something harsh and she passed him the bottle for his own drink. “Remember. Get to the train, Dingo’ll be there.”

He nodded and passed the bottle back. Aubrey took another drink before putting a rag in the top and lighting both bottles. They rose together, him in front shooting a line of fire across the entrance, her behind him a lit bottle in each hand. Aubrey didn’t even think, didn’t hesitate, she launched the bottles toward the targets and ducked back down the second the smooth glass slipped free of her hands. A tongue of flame licked up the walls, some of it catching the support beams that kept the entry arch open. That was it for her, she had nothing left to try so she swept up the sack and bolted for the back ladder.

Climbing up it might have gone a lot faster if she didn’t have to lug the sack and the weight cost her some time. Too much time it seemed. A bullet whizzed past and for a minute she didn’t realize it had ricocheted back and struck her. But the liquid fire that raced down her leg as she slid back down the ladder gave her an all too painful signal that she was hit. The burn in her flesh when she moved made her bite her lip. Climbing the ladder was out of the question now. Somehow she’d known she wasn’t going to make it back. Even as she left Stacie’s side to slip into the mountain, she’d known. Aubrey sat up slowly, inching herself to the minimal cover of a few busted chairs and the dead body of another of Jesse’s boys that was slumped over them.

She was going to die there and she knew it. Aubrey reached into her vest pocket and pulled out the last stub of her cigar. It was crushed to pulp and she muttered a very un-lady like curse and tossed it away. The body of the man jolted with the impact of another bullet and his coat fell open, a brand new cigar dropping out of it to the ground beside her. The blonde smiled and grabbed it, biting off the end. “And even in my dying moments he shineth his mercy and light upon me…Thank you Lord.”

If only her father were here to see her now…

Aubrey swallowed thickly at the rise of emotions that swelled up in her chest. She would have wanted him to be proud of course but he never would be, he would never love her. She didn’t regret that in the least however, her only regret was that she wouldn’t get one more kiss and one more night in Stacie’s arms. The only heaven she ever knew. She lit the cigar finally after a few failed attempts, hands too slippery and shaky to hold the flint, and leaned back with a sigh. At least she knew love. At least she knew hope. And soon she’d know peace. The smoke curled around her head as she dug around in the bag until her blood slicked fingers curled tightly on the hard cylinder. They’d all know peace now.  

It was too hard to strike her flint now, so she used the end of her cigar to light the fuse on the stick of dynamite and laughed when it sparked and started to fizzle. The whiskey and shock of her wound must have made her damn near delirious because she laughed again before rising in a wobble to her knees to chuck the stick as far as she could across the cave. Another bullet took her in the shoulder and her knee gave with the pain, her vision going gray and blurry at the edges. She was vaguely aware that she was on her back staring up at the ceiling waiting for the blast as the blood seeped far too quickly from her rapidly cooling body but she hadn’t the will to pull herself together. Aubrey blinked a few times then smiled when the ceiling transformed into the shape of Stacie’s face.

“My angel…”

She knew Stacie wasn’t there. But she saw her none the less and thanked God for giving her that one last view of the most beautiful creature she’d ever set eyes upon. Her gloved hand reached up weakly to touch that divine mirage before her eyes closed and her hand dropped limply to her chest.


	14. Chapter 14 - Chloe

_Don’t look at her face. Work the stitch. Just work the stitch._

Chloe’s red stained hands shook as she worked quickly to stitch the bullet hole in Aubrey’s thigh. It had gone clean through but at a wicked angle that had just narrowly missed the bone and vein alike. But there was still so much blood. Aubrey’s blood.

_Don’t look at her face. Just work the fucking stitch. Don’t look at her face._

It was easy enough to do with Stacie hunched over Aubrey, the blonde’s head cradled as gently as possible in the tall woman’s lap. But every now and again Stacie would lean up enough to watch Chloe working as quickly and carefully as she could. If she wasn’t careful she’d catch a glimpse of Aubrey’s face in those moments and she just couldn’t see the other woman like that. She just couldn’t. Chlo bent over and bit the end of the thread after tying it off. She could taste the metallic zing of Aubrey’s blood on her lips and her heart stopped.

_Don’t look at **her**  face._

If she looked at Aubrey’s face, lips drawn and white from blood loss. If she looked at the slack jaw and closed eyes…

Chloe took a second to blink the tears from her eyes, they were just a distraction she couldn’t afford right now. It was making it difficult to inspect the next wound, this one closer to the hip. When she’d sent Aubrey and Stacie away to the caverns she hadn’t anticipated this. She’d known there was a chance they’d get hurt but…not like this. Not. Like. This.

Not Aubrey.

A bead of sweat started to drip down her forehead and she swiped at it with the back of her hand, leaving a smear of something thicker and sticky behind that she could still feel. It was Aubrey’s blood and her stomach clenched painfully at the thought. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done this for them all before, it wasn’t as if she’d never had to carefully stitch together skin split open from knives and bullets before. It wasn’t as if she’d never done this for Aubrey, who had more than her fair share of devastating wounds inflicted upon her. But it was different this time.

This time Aubrey’s heartbeat was a bare flutter of a pulse in her neck. A shallow rise of her chest for a short breath. A dying breath.

_Don’t you fucking look at her face. Work the goddamned stitch._

So she did, with fingers cramping from holding the delicate needle so firmly between them. The hip wasn’t as bad as she had feared, more of a graze than anything, but she had yet to look at the shoulder that at first glance seemed nothing more than raw meat. Chloe took a few deep breaths through her mouth hoping to avoid the smell of blood that had never bothered her before but now twisted her guts tighter and blurred her vision with more tears.

_Don’t. Look. At. Her. Face._

“Bec, bring me that canteen.” Chloe’s voice was soft but steady, none of the quiver of fear she was really feeling coming out. Not yet. She couldn’t yet. First she had to try and save her best friend. Stacie’s sobs fell like blows to her heart and she had to squeeze her own eyes shut to force the broken sound of it out of her mind. Beca’s warm presence at her shoulder brought her back to herself and she gave a grateful nod of thanks. Chloe yanked at the seam at the shoulder of Aubrey’s shirt to rip it open and stifled a sob of her own when the rough action did nothing to rouse the blonde woman.

_Don’t look at her face. Work the wound._

Her hands reached around the back of Aubrey’s shoulder, fingers searching delicately to find the exit hole. There wasn’t one that she could feel and Chloe shook her head. The longer that slug stayed in the higher a chance of Aubrey dying from infection before she’d healed from the actual injury. “Can you flush out the entry point for me? I have to see where the bullet went.”

Beca nodded and poured water as gently as she could over the hole torn in Aubrey’s shoulder. The soft sound of shuffling bodies and quiet sniffs distracted Chloe and she glanced up at their crew standing around the platform of the train car. Their girls and some Swansons too, what few survived anyway. All of them half burnt or bloodied. Some with gunshot wounds themselves. They had slowly begun to trickle in after Emily and Kat showed up riding Rowdy and Roan. That was the first moment her heart fell to her stomach and it hadn’t recovered in the slightest by the time Stacie and Bumper rode in on what looked like government issue horse stock.

As long as she might live she would never get over the image of Aubrey slumped in the saddle with a clearly lost in her grief Stacie, cradling the bleeding blonde as if that alone would tether Bree to this world. It had broken her heart in ways that would never recover. She could see that reflected back to her in the faces of their girls.  

“Is that good Chlo?”

Chloe cleared her throat and looked back to the body, not the face, of her patient. She nodded once and held out her hand for Beca to pour water over. “My hand too please…” The water was still cool from the inside of the canteen and it seemed wrong, obscene even, that it was refreshing. Chloe shook out her hand and hunched back over Aubrey’s shoulder. “M’sorry Bree…”  

Aubrey’s body stiffened and bucked when Chloe dug her finger into the bullet hole, searching for the metal fragments lodged inside it. Her heart squeezed painfully again when the blonde let out a strained wail of pain the deeper she probed. Hadn’t Aubrey been through enough? Hadn’t she suffered more than any one body should suffer? Chloe couldn’t choke back the sob this time as Beca knelt to help Stacie hold Bree down and steady the weak thrashing limbs while she worked at digging out the slug.

She prized it out of the flesh finally and tossed it away as if it burned. “Needle!” Someone, she didn’t know who, handed her the needle already freshly threaded. It was a small mercy for her frazzled nerves.

_Don’t look at her face. Work the stitch._

And she didn’t. Her focus narrowed down to the mess of ruined flesh and muscle as she worked to close the gap as neatly as she could. It was hard and the needle slipped constantly. Finally the ragged edges came together and she tied off the thread and cut it off with a snap of her teeth. Her head turned toward Aubrey and she lost her willpower not to look. Her eyes traced Stacie’s bowed back as she cradled Aubrey’s head so tenderly, the tears falling on Aubrey’s too pale face every time Stacie leaned over to press soft kisses to the blonde’s brow, begging her to fight a little longer. Begging her to stay. Another spasm of pain clutched at her stomach and the second she was done she scooted back off the platform to the edge and might have even fallen to the ground had Beca not grabbed her arm to steady her as she climbed down from the train.

Chloe didn’t know where she was going she only knew she had to get away quickly because the hot bubble of acid climbing her throat was going to burst. And it did. The redhead dropped to her knees and spewed out her feelings all over the hard packed earth. Comforting arms wrapped around her once she was done heaving, warmth from Beca’s body soothed the tight muscles in her back and she felt the tremble of her mate’s body as she sobbed along with Chloe.

“It’s okay Chlo…it’s okay. She’s gonna be okay. It’s gonna be alright.”

Chloe wasn’t so sure of that honestly. Aubrey was strong as a bull and could just as ornery and stubborn as one too. But this was bad. As bad as she’d seen it. And she just didn’t know and Beca could sense it when she didn’t have anything to say.

Something didn’t feel right in the air but she was too caught up in her worry to notice the shift. It was as though the tension of the moment had kept a tenuous and fragile peace but when it had broken so had that silent understanding.

Her dash to get as far away from the pain of a nearly lifeless and limp Aubrey had brought her and Beca a good twenty or thirty feet from the train, too far to do anything when what was left of Jesse’s crew drew their weapons and pointed them at the women assembled.

“Now that you’ve patched up your crew I expect we best be getting on with this gold.”

He was older than the rest, not someone they had worked with before like Luke or Bumper. Someone that didn’t have any ties to any of them and wouldn’t blink twice before killing them. Beca started to stand but Chloe kept a hand on her arm to keep her from launching herself like a cannon ball only to be shot down after her first step.

“You son of a…”

Stacie started to reach for her gun but he pointed his own at her face and gave a smirk. “Hey! That’s enough out of you. Should be grateful I waited for you all to see to your own. Now get off my train.”


	15. Chapter 15 - Beca

“Hey! That’s enough out of you. Should be grateful I waited for you all to see to your own. Now get off my train.”

She almost couldn’t hear him past the roar of hot rage that washed over her. Beca struggled against Chloe’s firm grip trying to launch herself at the train and the men threatening to take it. A low growl trickled past her lips and one hand went to the handle of one of the knives in her chest rig. Both of Chloe’s arms wrapped around her tightly, voice soft in her ear trying to soothe, but Beca was having none of it.

“Lemme go, Chlo…”

“Sorry, Cowgirl. Not the time or the place.”

Beca struggled to move forward even if she had to take Chloe with her but the redhead was intent on keeping her put. After a few moments she gave up struggling and settled for seething anger instead. She wasn’t even sure what bothered her more, that Chloe held her back or that the jackass trying to take their gold was laughing at her.

“I’ll see you in Hell, you hear me? I will find you, and I will end you!”

She struggled again but Chloe was expecting it and tightened her grip on Beca. He only laughed harder giving Beca a surge of strength that was powered solely by her desire to murder him. It was enough for her to be able to drag her mate a few steps forward but Chloe dug her heels in and threw her weight into it and Beca was well and truly caught.

“Easy, lover. Easy.”

It was that soft warm tone that did the most good in calming her even if she didn’t want to be calm. But it was hard to fight against the weight of Chloe’s body and the utter unconcern in the ease of her voice. The bitter edge of anger starting to dull, leaving her able to finally see more than Chicago standing over Aubrey and Stacie with his gun drawn. Her eyes drifted to Aubrey’s prone body and the anger turned to something else entirely. Chloe was right, this wasn’t the time or place.

Movement behind the train was visible by the wheels and she frowned slightly. For a moment it was just the flap of fabric in the wind that ghosted along the carriage then disappeared. Beca blinked a few times trying to understand what was happening when Lilly’s head poked out from between train cars where she made a complicated hand signal then disappeared just as quickly. Beca snapped her mouth shut with a click and Chloe eased her grip slightly. She had no idea what that signal meant but she trusted her friend, and more importantly she trusted Chloe.

“Glad to see ya calmed your pits. Hate to shoot you when I’m being all reasonable like.”

Beca gave a snarl that she couldn’t help even if she had wanted to. She might be willing to let things play out but she wasn’t about to do it silently. Besides keeping their eyes on her meant no one was any wiser about what was happening behind their backs. “Reasonable. I’ll be sure to have that carved into your headstone.”

“You’re mouthy ain’t ya?” His eyes narrowed and the gun swung slowly from Stacie to Beca. He pulled back the hammer with slow, deliberate ease. “I’m starting to think it’d be better if we didn’t leave any loose ends to come back and haunt us.”

“You’re not gonna shoot them.” All eyes drifted to Bumper who had hoisted himself on to the platform and was standing with his hands on his hips between Beca and the barrel of that gun. “I get takin’ the train. Gold is fair game ‘round here. That’s just the way it is.”

“They’re trouble.”

Bumper gave a nod but his gaze traveled down to Aubrey and Stacie and something flickered in his eyes that Beca never expected to see. Something she wasn’t even sure she’d ever seen in him before though their paths had crossed plenty in the past. Just a hint of respect and maybe a little awe. “Yeah, maybe. But you’re still not gonna shoot them. They could have left us to the Army back there and they didn’t.  _She_  didn’t.” Bumper pointed to Aubrey’s far too still figure before spitting off the edge of the platform.

Chicago started to lower his gun, turning in frustration to the pair of women still on the platform. He didn’t like leaving loose ends, and he guessed that Beca was as good as her word. They’d come for those men and he wasn’t entirely sure who would win. Chicago grunted and raised a booted foot to push Aubrey off the edge of the platform. “I said, get the hell off my train.”

A low growl of renewed hate and anger rolled up from her chest and it was echoed by Chloe who still held her tightly. The boot never managed to reach Aubrey before Bumper had skinned his gun and pressed it to Chicago’s head. “You…you don’t get to touch her. Understand?”

It felt odd watching Bumper of all people defending Aubrey and Beca couldn’t imagine what had happened in the caverns to make that kind of loyalty possible. Stacie raised her head slowly, green eyes radiating the kind of hate that choked the breath out of men. It was enough to make Chicago back up a few steps and bow a mocking grand gesture that they were free to go. Chloe released her grip and they both jogged over to help Stacie lift Aubrey and carry her off the train.

She hadn’t expected Aubrey to be light, but the weight of her as they carefully eased her onto the ground seemed too much and far too limp. As though the only thing left of their friend was meat and bones. Beca eased back so Chloe and Stacie could hover over the blonde and turned to eye the men on the train. Some of them looked a little nervous when she pinned them with her gaze and marked their faces for later. Finally she let her eyes land on Chicago who seemed both irritated and smug at the same time.

“Don’t worry Mitchell. They’ll be so busy chasing us they won’t think to swing back ‘round to you. Hell, you should be thanking me for this.”

Most of the men laughed as the train started to roll slowly forward. Bumper stood at the rail, gun still raised to Chicago, exchanging furious and short jerks of his head with Dingo. It was obvious each of them wanted the other to choose their team. When it was pretty clear he was going to be riding that train without her, Bumper muttered and shoved his gun in his holster. “Aw hell and damnation, woman!” Beca blinked in amused surprise at his less than graceful leap from the rolling platform. They watched him roll down a gentle embankment before getting up and dusting himself off.

A soft groan of pain made Beca turn back to her friends, every one of their team crowding around Aubrey’s body protectively. As a group they held their collective breaths and watched as Aubrey’s eyes fluttered open. It took a second or two for her to focus but when she did she found Stacie, Chloe and Beca hovering worriedly over her. “Is it…heaven?” Beca felt her breath squeeze out in a shuddered gasp because she honestly thought Aubrey was already dead. Had maybe even been preparing herself for the shock of it.

A shadow dropped over them and Bumper leaned down with a grunt. “Oh well lookit who decided to wake up for the party. About damn time, Posen.”

Aubrey rolled her eyes up to take in his looming face with a disappointed sigh. “Oh. No.” Her lip curled, nose crinkling with the effort. “It’s Hell.”

It broke the tension and Stacie leaned forward sobbing out a laugh as she peppered Aubrey’s face with relieved soft kisses. Beca let out a breath as she and Chloe sagged against each other, oblivious to everyone else for a moment. Chloe let out her own ragged breath and bent to rest her head on Aubrey’s chest, content to feel the rise and fall of her steady shallow breaths. A rough sniffle made Beca turn to Bumper who rubbed at his face and stared at the sun for a minute.

“You alright there, bandito?”

“Got dirt in my eye from the jump.”

“You mean the wild flailing leap?”

“Shaddup.”

Beca eyed him for a second then punched him lightly in the shoulder. “You’re alright Bump.” He gave her a derisive snort and moved off to Dingo’s side. Beca shook her head slightly, still not entirely sure of what had just happened.

“Praise the Lord that’s over.”

She looked up quickly and frowned at Jessica and Ashley wondering where they’d come from. “You know you two aren’t exactly nuns right? And where they hell were you two while they were running off with our gold??”

Jessica shrugged with her usual sunny grin, the nun’s habit she wore still looked crisp and pristine. Beca might have taken up a high perch to watch for riders while the train was being loaded but she knew The Sisters and La Muda hadn’t been there when they showed up with locomotive. They were too clean to have participated in loading it and she wondered what they had been doing while what was left of the Swansons took after their leader and double crossed them.

“We were doing what we were told to do.” What? Beca brought her gaze to Chloe who smirked and looked up at the other two women.

“Did you have any trouble?”

Ashley shook her head and laughed. “Town was half empty as it was but who’s going to stop a couple of nuns? The Sherriff even waved us off as we rode out. I don’t think he even realized we rode out with an extra cart.”

Things were moving too fast and she didn’t understand what was happening. Chloe took pity on her and leaned into Beca’s body a little. “I thought Jesse might try to mess us up. So I had a backup plan.”

It still wasn’t enough of an answer so she blinked and gazed off at dark speck of train moving sluggishly away. “But our gold…”

“C’mon, let’s get Bree in one of those carts. You’ll see.” They stopped talking long enough to lift Aubrey carefully between them. The blonde whimpered softly but it was a damn sight better than the deathly silence of before. Ace and Florencia backed a cart up close and they slid Aubrey into the back. She didn’t even stop to think about the fact that Lilly was already backing King and Roan into place and buckling their harnesses. Chloe climbed into the back of the cart and gave one of the planks a hard kick to loosen it. The board popped and lifted and she yanked it up to show Beca the small compartment below it. Gold lined the space and Beca reached out to touch it reverently.

“But…”

“There’s no gold on that train Bec.” Stacie finally tore her gaze from Aubrey’s face and gave her a smirk. “Just the rubble we cleared from the mine. By the time what’s left of the Army regroups we’ll already be out of the territory.”

The reminder of the Army brought her eyes down to Aubrey and she swallowed hard. It was too close and they weren’t out of the woods just yet. Aubrey might still fall ill from her wounds and a long bumpy ride across the hot dessert wasn’t going to be easy on any of them. “What’s left? What happened at the caverns?”

Bumper chuckled then cleared his throat somberly. “Aubrey happened. Damnedest thing I ever did see. I thought we were all goners, hell, thought she’d already gone after she took a few hits.” He paused and shook his head remembering the chaos and frenzy of the moment. Bumper let out a breath and shook it off with a shrug. “But damn if she didn’t get her ass right back up to chuck that boom stick right out the entrance and in their stinkin’ laps. For a woman, she’s got some damn big cojones.”

Beca bit back a chuckle and gave Aubrey wide impressed eyes. “Well damn Bree, your bounty is gonna be bigger than mine.”

Aubrey met her eyes with a tired smile and settled back into Stacie’s cradling body too exhausted to answer. Beca gave a nod and looked around as their girls scrambled to load themselves into the four carts that had gone unnoticed for days. Lilly patted her shoulder and mouthed something that Beca definitely didn’t hear and wasn’t sure she wanted to. Her lips twisted in a slight frown and she looked back down the tracks before turning to Lilly. “What were you doing on that train?”

Lilly only smiled and moved off to climb into Jessica and Ashley’s cart. Beca started to ask again but thought it was better that she didn’t. A rumbling boom sounded off in the distance making the ground roll and shake just as she was hauling herself into the bed of Kat and Emmy’s wagon. They all turned to look but from that distance the only thing visible was a gray and black cloud rising upward. Huh. Beca’s head turned and she glanced over at Lilly who was very happily laying in the back of the wagon, eyes closed and hands crossed serenely over her chest, a smile on her face.

“Was that the train?” Stacie looked over from the bed of the other wagon and gave a nod and a wink. Well at least she knew why Lilly was on the train now. A smile tugged at her lips as she wondered if Chicago even realized there was no gold before the train blew up. “Well don’t that beat all. Huh. Guess they got theirs.”

She knew they weren’t done yet. They still had a score to settle up with Jesse and Avery. But at least they had the gold and were more or less alive, that was worth something. Emmy gave her a teary eyed look and she reached out a hand to the younger woman.

“Don’t you worry Em. I promise we’ll get him back.” She didn’t know how yet but she knew they’d get Deputy Benji back safely. They just needed to find a safe place to regroup. As the cart pulled out she realized she didn’t have the slightest idea of where they were going. But it seemed that Chloe and Stacie had thought of that too. She opened her mouth to ask where they were going but Kat spoke first.

“We need to take Aubrey someplace Emmy and I can take care of her while you y’all take care of this…situation. We’ll be safe at Ma and Pa’s place.”

Beca gave a slight frown but nodded. Ma and Pa’s wasn’t her favorite place but it was safe and easily defensible. It dawned on her that this would be the first time she was going to be in on the rescue mission and it made her smile. “Least it’s not me this time.” And if they were really lucky there wouldn’t be a next time either.


	16. Chapter 16 - Stacie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to @antiquesoul83 and @eleanors-rigby for letting me ramble and all the others that have left comments, kudos, likes, and messages. Y’all are so kind. 
> 
> I guess I’m not as close to finished as I thought? I swear I thought this would be over chapters ago.

“I know, I know darlin’. Just a little bit further….” Stacie lifted Aubrey as carefully as she could, her heart stopping in her chest every time a pained whimper slipped from the blonde’s lips. Beca and Chloe jumped down from their wagons and moved to help her lower Aubrey off the cart but Stacie held her closer unwilling to let anyone else put their hands on her girl. It was silly, she knew that, Beca and Chloe cared deeply about Aubrey, and she knew they would be as careful as she. But she couldn’t. Not just yet.

Beca gave a slight nod, immediately understanding Stacie’s need to keep Aubrey to herself. “I know Stace…but we ain’t got much time to waste. Let us help you. Please.”

She hesitated a second longer but Aubrey gave a soft whine and Stacie caved, nodding her agreement. Beca and Chloe eased Aubrey out of her arms and out of the wagon while she scrambled down quickly. Stacie immediately reached out for the blonde as soon as she was on the ground and Chloe settled Aubrey into her arms. The front door of the large house they were moving toward swung open and a man stepped out onto the wide porch to watch them.

“This doesn’t look good.” John shook his head and yelled over his shoulder to the interior of the house. “Ma, time to bid our visitors goodnight, Stacie’s come home with some friends.”

Gail poked her head out and surveyed the group as they all climbed down from the various wagons. She eyed them all with a slight frown then gestured to The Sisters. “You two will sour a man’s appetite in those getups. G’wan. Take those horses to the barn and stash those wagons.” When she was sure they were far enough out of sight she turned back toward Stacie and gave a soft snort. “Of course it would be you. Let’s get her inside.”

It wasn’t the warmest greeting but Stacie was beyond grateful that they were welcome at all. She kept her focus on Aubrey’s drawn face as she carried her, careful not to jostle too much. Each step up to the porch made her mate’s face twist as she fought the urge to groan out her discomfort. It made the tears fall from Stacie’s eyes faster, blurring her vision enough to almost make her miss the last step. Once she was through the door she stopped, suddenly unsure of where she should go.

There had been a time when she lived there at the house and her steps would have carried her to her old room upstairs at the end of the hall. But that was a lifetime ago. A lifetime before Aubrey. Stacie raised her head slowly and finally met the older woman’s gaze. “I dunno what to do here Ma…” It was more that she didn’t know what she would do if she ever lost Aubrey rather than she didn’t know where to go. But Gail took pity on her, gaze softening a fraction for half a second.

“Best take her into my boudoir.”

Stacie gave a nod and walked as quickly and carefully as she could to Gail’s room. Chloe yanked the heavy spread off the bed and Stacie gently laid Aubrey in it. The second that Aubrey’s warm weight wasn’t in her arms she sagged to her knees, kneeling by the bed with the blonde’s hand clutched in her own. “Please don’t die on me, darlin’. I still need you.”

Aubrey’s lips twitched and her hand gripped Stacie’s far too weakly. Beca rested a comforting, warm hand on her shoulder and it was all just too much. Stacie felt herself breaking down and knew it was something they could ill afford right then. Gail nudged her out of the way and inspected the injuries with a critical eye. “Stitch work looks good. She’s lost a lot of blood though. Pa, ring the bell and clear the house. I have a feeling we might need to hunker down.”

“Yeap, I figured. This is not a good way to do business Ma.”

John gave a quick shake of his head but stepped briskly from the room. The sound of the chow bell caused a flurry of movement above their heads and Stacie caught Beca looking up at the ceiling wonderingly. “Just spit it out already Bec.”

Beca dropped her gaze quickly blushed. “You lived here.” It wasn’t a question because she already knew the answer. They all did. Stacie gave a curt nod and kept her eyes on Aubrey’s face willing her to sit up and be well again. Heavy footsteps bounded down the stairs as several people left the bedrooms above them. She could hear the rough masculine voices grumbling out their displeasure and John making conciliatory sounds. She knew he was offering them a chance to come back the next day to finish what they’d started, it was just part of business.

Stacie bit her lip and nodded slowly. “A long time ago, yeah. Before she found me.” Stacie sniffed once and took a deep settling breath. “But you already know that.”

Beca nodded and leaned a little into Stacie’s side. “Still my favorite love story.” That did it for her, the kindness in Beca’s voice, the warmth of her words, it broke the dam she was barely holding up. Stacie couldn’t fight the crushing pressure of her pain and fear and she let out a gasping sob. Arms wound around her body and she was dimly aware that Chloe was holding her as she cried.

Gail looked at them huddled close to Aubrey, her gaze landing on each of the women crowding the room. “Alright let’s just get ourselves square here. You three give me some room, the rest of y’all can just git. Go on. Shoo. Go find a drink or a girl or a room, or all three, just get out of here.”

No one moved a muscle until Beca jerked her head at the door in a signal for them all to leave. When the door had closed behind Ace, Beca turned to Gail and pinned her with a deeply intense look. “They might be coming after us before too long, you’ll wanna clear out if they do.”

“They. Well who is it this time hm? Sheriff Cox and his posse?” Gail chuckled and only gave the barest glance at John when he slipped back into the room. “We might have some trouble coming, Pa.”

“I figured as much. Damned womenfolk always causing some kind of dustup. You especially.” He pulled a chair from the corner and settled into it with a sigh, his keen gaze holding Stacie’s. John took his time packing a pipe with tobacco and lighting it before he spoke again. “You know there were several gentleman callers that would have paid a good price to keep you on regular, maybe even marry you. All you had to do was give ‘em some babies.”

Beca gave a rumble of a growl and Chloe snapped her head up to stare at John with pointed defiance. Stacie wasn’t too bothered, that was just the way he was. Despite the type of business he and Gail ran, or maybe because of it, Pa never quite got over the idea that women were a commodity that could be traded and sold.

“Shut up John.”

Everyone turned to Aubrey who had finally opened her eyes again. She looked tired and far too pale but the heat in her gaze held the force of her personality.

“Oh you’re awake. You sure did piss off someone. Who did you steal from this time?”

Gail chose to remain silent as she set about the business of cleaning the dried blood from around Aubrey’s leg wound. She tutted softly at the damage but her hands were gentle and steady. Stacie brought her gaze back to John and shrugged. “Who says we stole anything?”

“Ha. Oh you are funny, girl. Very funny. Couldn’t lay on your back and make an honest living, you had to take up with notorious thieves. You think we didn’t hear about this one getting set to hang?” He gestured to Beca with his pipe and then pointed it at Aubrey. “And this one stole our best girl. So yes Stacie, I know you stole something from someone and they want it back bad.”

It was the first time he had ever shown real anger with her. Though in all fairness she never did manage to say goodbye when she’d run off with Aubrey. Maybe in her heart of hearts she had known that John wouldn’t take it well. Gail stopped what she was doing and gave him a tired sigh as if it was a tirade she had grown used to hearing over the years.

“I’ll tell you one time, John Smith…” Aubrey’s voice was tight and gravelly but her gaze was steady and penetrating. “I can’t steal what you never owned.”

It dropped between them all like a lead weight. John gave a mutter and she wasn’t exactly sure what he said but Gail turned quickly to him and pointed toward the door. “That’s enough now, you get out too. She’s weak not dead and I reckon still strong enough to put a bullet in your dumb ass. Now go.”

He got up and left without a backward glance but Aubrey’s eyes followed his every move until the door shut behind him. She let out a shaky breath and relaxed further in the bed. Stacie squeezed her hand and smiled at the firmer grip that Aubrey gave in return. It gave her hope that her girl would pull through. The truth was John was a little bit right though. Aubrey had stolen her. She had stolen Stacie’s heart the moment she crossed the threshold into Ma and Pa’s parlor and every day since. The memory made her breath catch and she had to look away to settle herself.

“How much trouble are ya in?”

Mercifully Beca answered with a shrug of her shoulders. “Fair amount. We’ll clear out soon as we can but we’ve got to take care of something first.”

“Hm. That something wouldn’t have something to do with settling a score would it?”

None of them said anything and Gail gave it a nod of acknowledgement before moving to clean up Aubrey’s shoulder. “You know Pa wouldn’t be this sore at you if you’d just apologize for leaving. After your father died…we were the ones what took you in. We fed you, clothed you…”

“And then there was business…right?”

Gail didn’t say anything to that for a moment. Her hand shook slightly but she gathered herself up and levelled a gaze at Stacie. “You were a grown woman Stacie. Maybe we didn’t give you good choices but you made the ones you made.” The older woman set the blood stained rag to the side and finally looked at Stacie fully. “For what it’s worth, I always thought choosing her…was your best choice ever.”

Stacie gave a nod and smiled down at Aubrey. “Yes she was.” The blonde smiled sweetly and closed her eyes with a sigh of content that was only marred by the wince of pain as she shifted her shoulder too quickly. It was a small reminder that they were running out of time and Stacie was torn between settling up with Avery and never letting Aubrey out of her sight again. Chloe reached out and put her hand over both Stacie’s and Aubrey’s joined hands.

“You don’t have to…”

“Yes she does.” Aubrey groaned as she struggled to sit up and Beca slid an arm behind her to ease her up gently. “Thank you Beca. Yes. She does. You three need to stick together now, you’re already one gun short and odds are bad already. You have to go, Stacie.”

She hated it, hated even more that Beca and Chloe didn’t try to argue against it. And hated the most that she  _knew_  deep down that Aubrey was right. “Bree…”

“I’ll be here waiting. Promise.” Aubrey had hit on her deepest fear and Stacie had to look away. She would never forgive herself if she left with Beca and Chloe and came back to Aubrey being… “Hey….I’m not going anywhere.”

It would have been easier to believe if the last time Aubrey said something similar hadn’t ended with her shot full of holes but she didn’t dare mention that now. Stacie licked her lips and nodded even though everything in her was screaming that it was wrong. “We’ll be back soon, then we’re all out of here. You hear?”

Aubrey nodded and gave Stacie another small tired smile and a nod. Chloe leaned over the bed and kissed Aubrey’s forehead. “I promise I’ll bring her back to you.” Beca gave Aubrey’s free hand a squeeze before she led Chloe out of the room to wait for Stacie outside.

Gail cleared her throat and lifted the wash basin with dirty water and slipped out of the room behind them. When it was just the two of them Stacie finally said what was plaguing her mind. “If I lose you Aubrey…I lose all the best parts of me.”

“Ain’t lost me yet.” Stacie gave a teary eyed nod but it was still too close of a call and she was worried now in a way she hadn’t ever been before. “Stace…look at me.”

The tall brunette wiped her eyes and looked at Aubrey, really looked at her. “It was too close.”

“Yes. Yes it was. And it will be closer still until you finish the job. Promise me something?”

“Anything.” There wasn’t even a hint of hesitation. For Aubrey, she’d blow up the world and never bat an eye at it.

Aubrey gave a brief nod of her head, her voice growing tight again with suppressed emotion. “Promise me you’ll kill that son of a bitch brother of mine.”

It was firm and direct and Stacie blinked once in surprise but nodded her agreement. It was the last thing she expected from Aubrey but it was a sentiment she could get behind wholeheartedly. It renewed her resolve to finish what they started and she could see that was exactly what Aubrey had intended.

“Yes ma’am I promise.”


	17. Chapter 17 - Chloe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep saying one more chapter but it keeps taking longer than that. I’m sorry! Two more chapters and an epilogue. Maybe.
> 
> Edited to add a note from CYC: Sorry about the confusion, there was no new chapter - it had saved 16 twice, once as a draft as ch 17 and I thought I hadn't posted it properly. Didn't realize my mistake until I'd already hit post.

“La Muda said they’re keeping the Deputy up at the general store. Couple of Sheriff Cox’s men have been in and out the last few days.” Stacie loaded another bullet into her Winchester rifle before pulling the lever to cock it. “Figure he’s holed himself up good in there. No telling what his arsenal looks like, and ain’t but one way in and one way out.”

Chloe watched Stacie rest the rifle against her shoulder as they stared out across the distance at the small town. Rowdy whickered and shifted under her and the tall brunette reached out a hand to stroke his neck soothingly. Beca sighed softly and gave a nod, one hand loosely gripping the reins the other hooked into her chest rig. A deep scowl lined her face but Beca’s voice was soft with a quiet calm that belied her rage. “And Avery?”

The redhead pushed the cylinder of her gun closed with a click and slid it back into her holster with a flick of her wrist, twirling the revolver with a flourish. “He has a room for board at the saloon. Second floor.”

Stacie gave a nod at that and narrowed her eyes as she focused in on the building. “What about Jesse?”

Chloe’s lip curled slightly and she leaned back a little in her saddle. “I know where he’ll be.” Roan pawed the ground and tossed his head up in restless agitation. She could relate, the desire to be on their way, to bleed the town as payback for what their own had suffered was a strong motivator. “Time for murder.”

Beca gave a soft grunt of agreement. “Figure Aubrey’d pray for us right about now.”

Stacie gave a contemplative hum, her green eyes flashing with emotion. “Someone  _should_  pray. For them.” With a solid kick to Rowdy’s flank, Stacie surged forward toward without a second glance back. Beca gave Chloe a searching look and she nodded at her mate, silently in accord with bringing Stacie back to Aubrey no matter what happened. Neither of them disagreed with Stacie’s anger or her desire to send the whole town to Hell, but she had made a promise to her best friend that she fully intended on keeping.

Beca took off next and Chloe spared a moment to glance to the sky, lips moving in quiet prayer. “Lord, keep us safe.” It wasn’t much but she felt it with everything in her soul and Beca was right, Aubrey would have prayed for them. It seemed wrong not to do it now in her stead. Roan didn’t wait for her prompt before he shot out after Rowdy and King. They rode the short distance to the town, heedless of any watchers sitting on the roofs of the nearest buildings.

Stacie slid from the saddle, ducking to one side of her horse for cover as she raised the rifle and took out a spotter just as Chloe’s mount skidded to a halt close to the half standing jail. She jumped down and raised her pistols, aiming for the nearest armed man lifting steel in her direction. A shot whizzed by her and Chloe tucked into a roll to take what cover she could from behind the trough while letting fly a few bullets of her own. A heavy body fell off the roof just behind her and she glanced down only long enough to see he was dead before scooting up onto the walkway, grateful that her girls had her back.

It was a clear run down to the end of the row where the stable was if she could keep from getting hit. Chloe gave a light trill of a whistle and Stacie raised her rifle to aim and fire at the roof line. A uniformed body toppled off the roof and over a couple of barrels stacked in the street. She took her chance then, her legs pounded furiously as she sprinted ahead, body instinctively ducking and weaving past the occasional flying bullet. She was almost there, almost to the gap between buildings and her body coiled, ready to leap the small distance across when a large muscled body blocked her jump down from the walkway.

Chloe hit with a meaty impact and bounced off to land on her back on the hardwood planks. She coughed and groaned as she scrambled to her feet and took in the mountain of a man standing between her and stable. They blinked at each other a second and she sighed. “I…should have prayed harder.”

The man roared and swung a heavy smithing hammer that she narrowly avoided with a quick dart to the side. Chloe raised her gun but another devastating swing knocked her revolver clean out of her hand. The shock of it stinging and burning like snake venom all the way to her elbow. Chloe shook her hand out and ducked down, giving up ground to the approaching behemoth. She raised her other gun and pulled the trigger but it clicked on nothing. They both paused and stared blankly at the gun. She pulled the trigger again but the chamber was empty. She holstered it and pulled her Bowie from the sheath at the small of her back. It wasn’t much but she didn’t think he’d be kind enough to wait for her to reload so it would have to do.

The blacksmith laughed and lunched in a blur of speed she hadn’t expected, nearly crushing her head between his two hammers. Chloe went low when he went high and her knife flashed out to slice along his belly but the blade only skated along the cured surface of his thick leather apron. She rolled out of the way to avoid a blow to her face but not nearly quickly enough to escape a hit to her shoulder. The force of it pushed her back and she almost lost her footing, dropping to a knee momentarily, shoulder surprisingly and blissfully numb for the moment. His swing went high as she dropped down and left his bare, corded arm exposed as the momentum of the heavy hammer carried through.

Chloe slashed out viciously at the arm and bounded out of reach as quickly as she could move. The blacksmith retreated a few steps, cradling his wounded arm, empty fist clenching against his chest as he tested how deep it was. She took the time to roll her shoulder experimentally and winced when the pain of it nearly took her breath. He had gotten her good but he wasn’t unscathed and Chloe smirked at him.

She could see in his eyes that he hadn’t expected her to actually be able to hurt him and the shock of his own blood running like a hot river down his arm frightened him. But as with many men, fear turned to hate with a blink of his dark eyes. He rushed her, not bothering with a swing of his arms, just a straight body check, taking them both to rough walkway, his solid weight pinning her legs as she struggled to reach for the knife that had dropped from her hand in the impact.

Her fingertips skated over the smooth bone handle but the blacksmith yanked hard, pulling her closer to his body and further from her knife. Another tug dragged her halfway under him, one meaty paw closed tightly around her throat and he raised his hammer up. Chloe struggled, her arm sweeping out in a blind search for anything in reach. Fingers bumped a solid weight and she threw her body into her reach until her hand closed around the handle of a hammer. The redhead brought her free hand up and dug her fingers into the deep gash in his forearm that she’d sliced earlier. He screamed and loosened his grip slightly but it was enough for her to break free.

Chlo wheezed in a breath and gripped the handle in both hands, struggling to get her legs under her. It was heavier than she realized, throwing off her balance and if they’d been any further apart the blow would have whistled by harmlessly. But they were close enough that the weight of the tool made up for the awkwardness of the stroke and caught him on the jaw. The blacksmith shook his head to try and clear his vision but he wasn’t sure which way was up just yet. She hefted the hammer again, this time more prepared for the weight of it as she swung it up over her shoulder and then brought it down in a deadly arc to crunch against the side of his head as he started to focus in on her. His big body crumpled and thudded heavily onto the walkway. Chloe dropped the hammer with a sigh and leaned against the wall for a second to catch her breath.

The door to the stable crashed open ahead of her as Jesse poked out a cautious head checking to see if the way was clear. His head swung in a slow arc until his gaze landed on her, eyes widened in surprise and he backed into the stable in a quick retreat.

“Oh no you don’t, you son of a bitch.”

She ran to the door, pulling it wide to light up the interior. Chloe took a few careful steps in and the horses all shifted nervously picking up on the dark energy she was radiating. A sound drew her attention and she spun to face it just as Jesse barreled past her on a horse that was probably stolen. It knocked her ass over tea kettle into a bale of hay as he bolted out the opened doors. She growled and glanced around a second, a smile replacing the scowl when she found what she was looking for.

Chloe ran out of the stable with the coil of rope in her hands. She brought the lasso up over her head in a circular swing and ignoring the wrenching throb she could feel all the way up her arm. The redhead let it fly when the lasso had enough speed before Jesse was too far gone to reach. The rough fiber seemed so weightless as it slid through her grip until the slack rolled out. She threw her weight back into it as the taut rope met resistance.  Jesse’s hand went to his neck just as he was yanked back off his horse to meet the hard dirt road. She dropped the end of the rope when he landed and pulled her gun out of the holster. She was slow and deliberate about opening the cylinder to empty the spent casings.

Jesse wasn’t going anywhere, coughing and writhing like he was but she put one booted foot on the rope as she loaded bullets from her gun belt into her revolver. He sat up and started to speak but she was so far past listening. Chloe pulled the trigger, putting a bullet into the ground between his legs just a hair shy of his manhood. Jesse froze and she aimed for the spot between his eyes, all her hate blazing in her eyes.

“You gonna shoot me now, Chlo? You’ll finally get what you wanted with me out of the way, won’t you? Nothing to stop you from having all of Beca.”

Her head tipped to the side and she shook her head in a pitying gesture. “You still think a part of her loves you, don’t you?” Of course he did. Jesse never could see past the end of his nose. “I never needed to kill you to have all of Beca. You mighta given her your ring but she gave me her heart. Willingly.”

Beca had never once held back an ounce of love or affection, had never once stopped her words from expressing everything that Chloe had meant to her. It was one of the things that Chloe loved most about the brunette. When she felt something, she said so, and there was no compromise or equivocation, there was never a lie on her lips. So yes, Chloe believed Beca when she said she loved her and more so believed her when she said she didn’t love Jesse and could never love him again.

“She’s not the one here to kill me, so yeah, there must be something there. We were something, and I know it’s there still.” His lips pulled into a sneer as he glared up at her. “Even if she says she hates me I know it ain’t true. It’s just you, puttin’ things in her head. She’s still my girl.”

She thought about that a second and gave a slight shake of her head. “Sorry Buckaroo, but that girl is all mine. She’s not here because she doesn’t care enough about you to make sure you die.” Chloe didn’t waste time and fired a shot into his chest, he looked surprised and touched the growing wet spot over his heart. She knelt by his head and tsked softly. “Now, she might not give a donkey’s puckered asshole about you but I aim to see you die Jesse Swanson. Now, you got maybe half a minute before you go and I want you to know somethin’ real important…you’re already forgotten. You were forgotten from the first moment she was in my bed.”

Jesse gasped and gurgled out his last breaths, one hand gripping her wrist weakly, struggling to make some connection as his life drained from him in a wash of quickly cooling blood. Chloe pulled her arm free as she stood just as he faded away. There wasn’t time to think of him now and she wouldn’t mourn his loss later, none of them would. Beca least of all.


	18. Chapter 18 - Stacie

“Get down!”

Beca dropped down to a knee and Stacie raised her rifle to fire right into the chest of the man running straight at them. She figured he was hoping to overwhelm them before they could get a shot off at him. It was a stupid idea that ultimately got him killed. Stacie snorted and pulled the lever back again before raising the rifle up to scan the roofs.

“Thanks. I owe ya.”

Stacie let her gaze drift down to Beca still kneeling on the ground. “Ya owe me about six by my last count.”

“What? Six?? Just because I can’t read doesn’t mean I can’t count. I owe you two at most.”

“What about Albuquerque?! That counts for at least five just on its own.”

A shift of air behind her warned Stacie just in time and she ducked as Beca launched herself like a wild animal at the soldier behind her. The smaller woman gave a feral snarl, knives flashing out to scissor cut at his throat. Beca glanced over her shoulder at Stacie, a fine spray of red dotting her face.

“Albuquerque doesn’t count. You can’t say you rescued me when you were in the same damned cell!”

Stacie rolled her eyes and tugged a few bullets out of her belt to load in the rifle. “And who’s to blame for that?”

Beca’s lips quirked into a grin and she shrugged as she took stock of what weapons she had left. Stacie leaned against the clapboard wall of the Saloon and peeked down the street. It was quiet but she couldn’t tell if that was because they’d killed everything out there or the Sheriff’s men and what few soldiers Avery still commanded were waiting them out. The latter seemed likely.

“I didn’t throw the first punch in that bar. You can talk to your missus about that.”

The mention of Aubrey made Stacie swallow hard despite the humor of the memory. The tall woman sighed softly, a bittersweet smile gracing her face. “That was one hell of a punch.”

“She’s a hell of a woman.”

Stacie gave a nod at that and closed her eyes for a second trying to push out the image of Aubrey falling to the ground as bullets struck her body. After a second she opened them to find Beca watching her silently. There wasn’t a question or a discussion, simply a look between them and a nod from her, affirming that she was all good. Beca gave a soft huff and peeked around Stacie and the corner of the building.

“See anything?”

“Naw. Pretty sure whoever is left is either with Avery or the Sheriff. It’s not gonna go easy for either of us you know.”

She nodded at that already knowing they were facing an uphill battle. She just didn’t care. Stacie couldn’t care less if she had to shoot each and every person in that crap hole town. “Yeap.” The tall brunette took a step back to eye the side of the building looking for handholds, her gaze tracked the easiest way up to the porch roof and she smiled. “I got an idea…”

“Every time you say that Chloe ends up having to dig buckshot out of my ass.”

Stacie chuckled and jerked her head upward to indicate their path. Beca gave her a dubious look but nodded anyway. She gave a quick glance around just to make sure, slung her rifle over a shoulder then cupped her hands into a stirrup for Beca to step into. The shorter woman frowned slightly at needing a lift but lightly stepped in and up to climb onto the roof. As soon as Beca was up Stacie leapt at the low hanging edge and pulled herself up and over it as quietly as she could.

They laid there on their backs for a second just waiting to see if there was a stir of movement that signaled they’d been seen. She raised her head slightly then nodded. “Clear.”

Beca sat up to gauge the distance between buildings. It wasn’t a wide jump but it still wouldn’t feel great if she misjudged and fell to the ground between them. Bec grunted and pointed to the general store and sighted down her arm as she considered. “See ya when the dust settles…”

Before Stacie could say anything Beca stood and took three running steps to leap from the edge of the roof, her tiny body curling into a ball as she crashed through a glass window of the second floor of the general store.

“Well I’ll be damned, showoff.”

She shook her head and scrambled up the slope of the porch roof to a window and peeked in carefully. Beca would never let her live it down if she got shot before she even got inside. Stacie slid her fingers under the lip of the window and pushed it up slowly. There was no one in the room which was just as well, and she was halfway across it when the glint of brass caught her eye. Stacie turned her head to the corner and growled at the sight of blood stained Army officer’s uniform jacket hanging from a chair back.

Heavy booted steps thudded dully on the dusty rug running the length of the hall outside the door and she darted in behind it just as it swung open. Avery, she assumed, sighed heavily and shuffled unsteadily inside the room.

“Jones, Hanover…no one and nothing comes up those stairs. I don’t care if it’s the barkeep’s cat just kill it.”

The men turned and started down the hall with quiet ‘yes sir’s before Avery shut the door and threw the latch to lock it. Stacie stood still as death as he shut the door and turned away from her to the room without ever noticing that she was there. The bloody bandage wrapped around his head and over one eye made it easy for her stay hidden as he swept off his hat and tossed it casually at the bed post before lifting the lid on a box of cigars resting on the low table in the corner.

Avery pulled one out and neatly cut the cap off with a small curved blade. He bent slightly to light the cigar with a rough wooden match. It was all so very familiar and her heart throbbed painfully in her chest. “You know Aubrey does the same thing. Tosses her hat on the bedpost, lights herself a cigar…I guess I expect nothing less from the heirs of a tobacco plantation empire.”

He spun on a heel and opened his mouth to shout but Stacie drew her revolver and raised it to his head, thumb ready on the hammer. Avery let a pained scowl twist his face but he closed his mouth and raised his hands when she gestured with her gun for him to raise them up.

“Well if it isn’t the great whore of Babylon. I suppose you’re here to take revenge for my sister?”

She tipped her head to the side and eyed him curiously. They looked so much alike, Aubrey and Avery did. The same twitch of a smile when they were pleased with themselves, same cocky swagger when they knew they were being watched, right down to the steely eyed gaze when they stared down the barrel of a gun fearlessly. But he wasn’t anything like her girl where it counted, not deep down in the heart and soul of him.

Aubrey was good and kind. She was gentle and patient and full of love and devotion. Aubrey was every good thing in this world and Avery was a steaming pile of buffalo shit. Right down to his rotten and broken soul. He was a monster at the core and as long as he lived he would bleed that darkness onto anyone weaker than he. And he’d do it all with the weight of the law behind him making him even more of a threat than before.

“Somethin’ like that. That’s gonna leave a nasty scar on that pretty face of yours.”

Avery put the cigar back in his mouth slowly and took a few puffs. He didn’t seem overly afraid but a beat of sweat dripped down his temple and her lips quirked into a grin. A man can lie with his mouth, he can even lie with his eyes, but his body will betray him every single time.

“It was a gift from my dear sweet sister before her death.” She cocked the hammer back, the smile vanishing from her face instantly. “Jones told me the mountain took her when it came down on everyone. I expect that’s about as good a burial as she’s likely to have gotten riding with you and yours.”

He didn’t know. Stacie’s eyes bored into him as hate deeper than any she had ever felt flamed to life in her chest. Avery was gleeful as an executioner on hanging day talking about Aubrey’s passing and it poked at all the wrong sore spots in her heart. Stacie swallowed hard, her hand shaking just a little as she thought about how true his words could have been.

“That hurts doesn’t it? Knowing that she’s gone I mean. I’ll tell you, there was no one on this green earth that was quite like my sister. No one but me.” A grin tugged at his lips and he glanced toward the bed then back at Stacie. “You pull that trigger and she’s gone for good, forever. This might be your last chance to remember what it was like having a Posen between your legs. I promise you I’ll make you feel things my sister never had the equipment for. I’ll teach you your place same way I taught her.”

Stacie didn’t feel herself move nor did she hear the sharp crack of the hammer hitting the firing pin. And she definitely did not notice the jerk of her arm as the recoil of her gun kicked back. The cigar dropped from the surprised ‘o’ of his lips and landed on the cheap hand woven rug he stood on. Avery fell back against the wall leaving a dark red smear of blood where he slid along it and tipped into the bed. She hadn’t wanted it to be so fast, she had wanted to make him suffer for the pain he’d caused, but patience was never really a virtue she’d mastered.

Feet pounded the hall in a run and she knew the two soldiers he’d left guarding the stairs would come bursting through his door any second. Stacie lowered the gun, fingers still gripping the handle as if she longed to pull the trigger again. A heavy body slammed into the door but the latch held firmly in place.

“Lieutenant Posen! Sir! Are you alright?” The body hit the door again attempting to break it down and it shuddered violently under the force. Stacie holstered her gun and quickly moved to shove the heavy dresser in front of the door to give her more time. Avery rolled to his side, eye alight with an unholy glow of sick anger but that was okay by her. She felt plenty sick on rage herself.

“You bitch…you goddamned bitch.”

“That’s a right pretty offer you made Lieutenant, but Aubrey ain’t dead.” Stacie pulled her rifle over her shoulder and raised it carefully, aiming for chest high at the door before pulling the trigger. There was a shout and a thump as someone hit the floor outside. There was silence save for Avery’s heavy breaths and she chuckled and pushed him to his back on to the bed, digging the butt of her rifle against the wound in his shoulder. Avery screamed out in pain and writhed under the pressure. “And her dick is bigger than yours.”

This time she was aware of every single movement and every single second that ticked by. The smooth antler handle of her knife hugged her palm warmly as she gripped it firmly and slid it free from the sheath in her boot. Avery batted weakly at the rifle but couldn’t push it away with Stacie’s weight holding it steady.

“Whore….I’ll kill you all. Make her watch as I fuck you dead and bleedi…”

The blade sunk in to his gut with almost no resistance cutting off his words as the air rushed out of his lungs. One of his hands gripped hers to pull the knife out but she twisted her wrist and forced another gasping breath out of him. Another thud against the door, more cautious and hesitant.

“I might die sure enough but you’ll be worm food long before that day.” She twisted again and a long rattling whine whistled past his lips. Stacie pulled the knife out and plunged it back in with another slow grinding twist, smiling when the blade grated against the bone of his ribs. “Tell the Devil I send my regards.”

Thick sticky blood coated her hands for the second time that day but this time she delighted in the feel of it, in knowing it was Avery’s life slipping away. Stacie roughly pulled her blade free and wiped it clean on the leg of his pants before putting it away and slinging the rifle strap back over her shoulder. His dull eyed gaze followed her and his lips worked form words but no sound issued from him. Stacie stuck one leg out of the window and glanced back to watch the light leave his eyes. When she was sure he was dead she gave a nod of finality. It was over with him and Aubrey could finally be free of that malingering fear of retribution.

Stacie slid out of the window then stopped and looked back. She didn’t really have time for it but…it’d be a sin to let a box of fine cigars go to waste. Especially when she knew Aubrey was likely twitchy for one. She ducked back in to grab the box just as the door finally pushed open. Stacie drew her pistol and held it steady but the soldier that had tumbled into the room raised his hands in surrender.

“Is he…dead?”

“Yeap.”

“A-are you gonna kill me too?”

That was the question. Stacie raised a brow and glanced at the body of the other soldier she’d shot through the door. He was older and heavier looking than the one standing in front of her. This one was just a boy, no more than fifteen or so, a whole life left to lead. Seconds ticked by as she weighed what Aubrey would say over what her gut wanted her to do.

“You the last of them?” He nodded quickly, the whites of his eyes too big for his face. “Then congratulations, it is your lucky day, boy. You get to live to tell the tale. Best thank your God for that sweet bit of mercy. I reckon it’ll be the last you ever see if you stay in the Army.”

He nodded again and she pushed past him roughly, pausing only to shove a cigar into his mouth and give him an unkind push out of her way. He stumbled back, hands still held up in fear but he didn’t follow as she strode down the hall to the stairs. Each step took her further away from the possessing fear and anger that had driven her to such brutality but she wouldn’t truly be free of it until she was with Aubrey again and sure that the blonde was well and safe in her own two arms.

“I’m coming home darlin’. Real soon.”


	19. Chapter 19 - Beca

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the feedback and encouragement y’all. It’s very much appreciated.

There was an endless moment when she was suspended midair that she regretted her choice to aim for the window. The thought that the glass might not give under her weight was a huge factor in that regret. Of course it was too late to do anything about it at that point so she had tucked herself as tight as she could, using her arms to protect her face and prayed she could cannon ball right through. For one frightening heartbeat her body had met resistance and she was sure Chloe would kill her for dying so stupidly. But her momentum and weight broke the glass and shards of it rained down on her as she landed hard on the floor and rolled to a painful stop flat on her back in the center of a great room.

“Shitshitshitshit… I can’t believe that worked.”

Beca sat up and winced as she pulled a chunk of glass out of her forearm. It was definitely going to need stitches, she knew that much. She muttered a few choice curses and tore a strip of cloth off the bottom of a curtain to tie around her arm tightly. She gave her fist a few squeezes to make sure she still had grip strength but it was all she had time for. Whoever was downstairs had heard her crash and was coming to investigate. She counted out the footsteps noting that there was just one man which meant there were likely more downstairs. The floor creaked ominously just outside the door and she moved low and to the right.

The small woman slipped two perfectly weighted throwing knives out of her chest brace and hunkered down low behind the pot-bellied stove for cover. The door swung open hard and fast and a man pushed into the room with both his guns drawn, firing wildly into the living space visible from his spot. More glass shattered and splinters of wood blew off the walls and furniture. She waited for his body to make the slow arc away before she rose up and let the blades fly.

They sunk home in his body and he dropped to the ground in a slow collapse, eyes still blinking even though he was as good as dead already. Beca scooted over to him, mindful of the guns in his hands and pulled her knives free. There was a scuffle of sound from the bottom of the stairs and Beca eased herself across the room to the door to cautiously scan the hall.

“Junior? What’s happening? Junior!”

Beca backed away from the door when she saw movement at the bottom of the stairs. The warped floorboard under her foot shifted and groaned and whoever was at the bottom stopped all movement. She glanced at Junior dead on the ground and considered dumping him down the stairs as a distraction but they’d hear the effort and that took away any element of surprise.

“I really should have planned this better…” She muttered to herself as she looked around, eyes landing on the kerosene lamp hanging from a nail on the wall. A hint of a smile quirked her lips and Beca snagged it off the wall.

“Whoever it is up there, you came here to die. I’ll kill you myself you whore.”

The woman snorted softly as she loosened the base from the wick plate just enough to stay together. The wood shifted loudly under a man’s weight and she heard the soft inhale as he froze in the vain hope that she didn’t hear him. Beca shook her head raised the jaw harp to her lips as she gauged him to be about halfway up the stairs. She waited until after she had lit the lamp to strum her harp with a single twang.

Sheriff Cox’s voice rang out with a loud rough bark of an order but Beca had already stepped into the hall, lamp raised to pitch it into the man on the stairs chest.

“Pete no! Get back, its Mitch…”

It had done what she hoped and brought out all the chickens from the henhouse. Sheriff Cox and another man had given up their hiding spots in warning, too late for poor old Pete, as the lamp erupted on impact in a spray of hot oil and licking flames that crawled over his body. Beca took two running steps down the stairs and vaulted over the railing as the men struggled to put out the flames engulfing their friend.

His screams were terrible and deafening and she knew later when she was tucked into Chloe’s arms late at night that she’d still hear the echoes of his pain. Pain she had caused, Beca sighed softly and shook her head as she crouched behind a shelf.

“Damn you Mitchell! Damn you to hell! Aw goddamnit Pete, oh goddamnit.” The sounds of scuffling and frantic stomping let her know exactly where everyone was. Pete was at the foot of the stairs where he had tumbled to. The other man was closer and a few steps to the left trying to put out the last of the flames from the lamp. Sheriff Cox was pacing back and forth by Pete. She couldn’t tell yet if he was trying to see where she’d gotten to or if he was just that damn distressed. She voted for the former and it was confirmed when he spoke again. “You ruined him good for your little distraction. He’ll lose a whole season of crops while he heals up.”

Beca wedged herself into a corner where she could press her back against the shelf and brace her feet against the wall. “He’s alive ain’t he?” He might need help but it was better than being dead though she probably wouldn’t say she had been merciful. He was in for some hard days ahead. A shot rang out with a crack and a mason jar of peaches broke two shelves up. “He’ll get back to whatever the hell it is you all do for fun here. I wanna say cow fucking?”

He growled and fired off another couple of rounds in her general direction. One winged by her ear just a hair too close for comfort but it meant he had finally moved exactly where Beca had wanted him. “You couldn’t just give up the gold, you had to burn through this town on your way to hell. All this blood is on your hands, Mitchell.”

She chanced a glance between the shelves, watching as he moved another step closer to peer around some barrels. “Didn’t have to be this way Cox. All this…this is on you. We only came for a drink while our horses were being shoed. You got greedy.”

Cox pivoted toward the sound of her voice and fired again until his gun clicked empty. Beca groaned and pushed off with her legs as hard as she could. The tall shelving creaked in protest then started an almost comically slow descent. The sheriff had been distracted trying to reload when it toppled, he gave a shout but the heavy wooden frame crunched down on his head, trapping him in an avalanche of supplies and dry goods.

That just left one man between her and Benji. Beca scrambled away from the fallen shelves to find cover behind the long countertop. Bullets whizzed by and she cursed herself for bringing knives to a gun fight. Somewhere behind her she could hear the Sheriff groaning and shifting, trying to free himself. It had bettered her odds but it wouldn’t hold him for long. In the seconds between shots she raised up to survey the area then dropped down again. It was going to be an awkward throw but she knew where he was now. On the empty click of the gun she rose and launched her blades. They went wide of the mark who had been smart enough to move.

She dropped to a knee and pulled her last two blades out of her chest rig. If she missed again she’d be out of weapons and outnumbered. “Hey law dog…I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I was giving up?”

“Don’t suppose I would. Harry told me you’re sneaky as the devil in a dress.”

Another shot and she flinched at the nearness of it. “Harry? Wait…his name is Harry Cox? Well that is quite the moniker.” She moved stealthily to the other end of the counter and peeked around the edge. “What about you? What’s your name?”

“Don’t see how it matters much.”

He moved a few steps closer to the stairs and she popped up to throw her knives. This time one sunk home in his shoulder, the other skimming harmlessly past to bury itself in the wall behind him. Beca closed the distance between them in an easy lope that had her skirting tables and neatly climbing over the shambles of shelves. The man pulled her knife out of his shoulder and started to raise his gun but she was already there to knock his hand wide and deliver a devastating upper cut. He dropped like a sack and she grunted in satisfaction.

“Thank you Deputy No Name.” Beca took the gun from his limp hand and checked the cylinder. There was one shot left and she knew just where it belonged. The small brunette picked her way over to Sheriff Cox’s side, choosing to sit on the wooden frame pinning him to the ground. She raised the gun to him as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Well…this was one hell of a ride, Harry.”

“They’ll come for it and you, you know that right? Ain’t no place y’all can run that can’t be found.”

He struggled and pushed, trying to squeeze himself out from under the shelf but it was all for show because they both knew he wasn’t going to get out of this one. Beca stood and pointed the gun at him, her head tipped to the side as she considered.

“Reckon you’re right about that. But the people coming for me? They won’t be you.” She squeezed the trigger and fired a shot into his head. Beca tossed the gun aside and climbed over the wreckage to get to the storeroom. It had been boarded shut and she wondered how long Benji had been trapped in it. “Benj…ya in there?”

There was a quiet shuffle of noise then a surprisingly cheerful if tired chuckle. “Knew you’d come for me.”

Beca hefted a pry bar and ripped the boards from door frame. It took a good few wrenches before the door gave and swung open to reveal a bruised and severely beaten Benji. “I should have shot that son of a bitch more.” She tossed the pry bar away and grabbed his hand to help him stand. “Can you walk?”

“Miss Mitchell, I’ll walk anywhere you tell me to.” She nodded and pulled his arm over her shoulder to help him limp out of the room. “Is Emily alright? Did you manage to get to them in time?”

It was sweet and she smiled softly as she patted his chest. “She’s fine, I promise. Let’s worry more about getting out of here before the dust settles. You gotta come with us now. Sorry Deputy, but you’ll likely be a wanted man from here out.”  

“How much do you think my bounty will be?”

Beca couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up at his question. “Twenty dollars at least.”

“Twenty?! I’da thought that I’d at least get a hundred. Twenty. Really?” Yeah, he’d fit in with the gang just fine. Benji stopped them as they passed the Sheriff and painfully reached down to rip the badge off the dead man’s chest. He let out a deep regretful sigh and pocketed the badge. “You don’t deserve this, not even in death old man.”

“C’mon Deputy, let’s get on home to your girl.”


	20. Chapter 20 - Chloe and Aubrey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a little bit longer of a ride. But alas we’ve come to the end of this fic. Thanks dear readers for taking the time to like, kudo, and comment. You’re appreciated.

**Chloe**

“Tell me again why we’re letting her do this?”

Beca huffed and kicked at a loose stone, one hand wrapped tightly around the reins of her horse. Chloe shifted in her saddle and shook her head. They both looked at Stacie who was leaning against a tree watching as Aubrey made her way on to her family’s property. Stacie hadn’t let Aubrey out of her sight since they’d all come back from Penitence. Aubrey was still weak and healing, it was too soon for her to make a trip to back to her family estate but the blonde had been adamant about bringing her brother’s body home for burial. She and Beca had expected Stacie to argue but the tall brunette had simply sighed and nodded her acquiescence.

So they had made the journey together, taking ways less common to get there. It hadn’t been the worst thing for them since most of the people looking expected them to be heading south not east from Texas. It gave them a chance to move a little slower so Aubrey could rest as much as possible which was a bonus she supposed but the whole idea hadn’t set right with Chloe.  Gerrard Posen would not take kindly to Aubrey riding up, much less with her brother’s body in tow.

Stacie turned her head slowly toward them, eyes filled with something dark and heavy. “She’s gotta do this. Bree’s gotta close the book on this part of her life because we ain’t never coming back here again.” Stacie turned back just in time to see Aubrey slide slowly from her saddle but glanced away again as if it hurt to watch. “Least let her say goodbye to her momma.”

Beca snorted at that and threw her hands up in the air. “Eunice can rot in Hell right alongside her devil son.”

Chloe had to clear her throat so she wouldn’t laugh because it wasn’t really funny. Aubrey’s mother had sat by idly while Gerrard had beaten and tortured the blonde on a daily basis. She’d said nothing when Avery had done unspeakable things to his sister, and agreed when Gerrard placed the blame squarely on Aubrey’s shoulders. Truth be told she would have liked to put a bullet in both their heads but she knew agreeing with Beca now would only make her mate ride off after their friend and that wasn’t how it should all play out. “Easy there, Cowgirl. She can handle herself ya know.”

Beca gave her a look and jerked her chin at Chloe’s horse. “Yeah? Then why are you still sitting on that damn Army nag ready to charge down the hill after her?”

It was a point she hadn’t wanted to concede but knew it was the truth. She was just as anxiously waiting for some sign or signal that Aubrey needed them. Chloe opened her mouth to say something but closed it with a click and shrugged. “Because.”

“Because where one goes, we all go. That’s the rule.” Beca turned at Stacie’s rough and strained voice but the taller woman wasn’t looking at either of them. She had her eyes trained to the door of the big plantation manor waiting for the first sight of Aubrey. “And the last time we split it all went to shit and we almost lost…” She stopped and took a deep breath. “It was almost real bad. No one’s sayin’ we can’t have strong opinions on this, we just gotta respect her enough to let her do what she’s gotta do.”

Beca gave a deep sigh but nodded and Chloe dismounted to come around behind her. She slid her arms around Beca’s middle and pulled her back against her chest, chin resting on the brunette’s shoulder. The smaller woman instantly relaxed into her with another sigh, this one much quieter and more resigned to letting things happen.

“I know Bec, I hate her being there with them too.”

Beca nodded, her hands trailing over Chloe’s arms around her. “Think we’d know if something happened?”

The words were hardly out of Beca’s mouth when two shots rang out and echoed up to them. Stacie’s shoulders went stiff for a bare second before she was leaping to Rowdy’s back and pulling him around to the road. Chloe gave Beca a small squeeze before they broke apart, each scrambling to get mounted as quickly as they could. They were halfway to the property line when a familiar figure stepped out onto the verandah. Chloe pulled back the reins and slowed when Aubrey dipped her head and settled her Stetson on top. They were too far to see the expression on her face but Aubrey had come out of the house alone and was slowly climbing back into the saddle with only a glance back at the wagon that held Avery’s coffin.

**Aubrey**

“You sure you don’t want us to go with you?”

Aubrey gave a tight lipped smile as she buckled the leather traces on her horse leading the wagon. She  _did_  want them to go with her but that was precisely why they could not. All it would take would be for one person to see them all there together and the law would be after them all over again. She patted the big gray on the neck before turning to face her family. Her real family. Not the empty, cold people that had raised her.

“I have to go alone Beca.”

“Do you?”

They had been arguing it for three days now but she understood why her friend couldn’t let it go. Aubrey took a settling breath and limped slowly to the side of the wagon to look at the coffin. Avery was already starting to smell and flies were zinging around the crude wooden box that held his body. Of all of them Beca was the most vocal about her displeasure but Aubrey was not at all fooled by Chloe and Stacie choosing to remain quiet. She knew they would rather be with her than not.

“I do. I don’t expect you to understand, I’m not sure I rightly do myself, but I need to take him home. I need to answer for his end.”

Stacie looked up and then away and she knew that the brunette was thinking Aubrey had nothing to answer for because she hadn’t been the one to murder Avery. But Aubrey would have. If she could have held a gun in her hands she would have shot her only brother dead in the dirt. Had even told Stacie to kill him outright, a thing she only partially regretted.

Avery’s life and death were increasingly heavy weights upon her back and she was ready to leave it all to her father. Let him bear the burden of all those years of pain and suffering, let him struggle with the knowledge that his legacy was no more.

“I get that you think you have something to say but…you can’t say it from the end of your rifle? From way out here?” The plea in Beca’s voice was heartbreaking but she couldn’t let it keep her from what needed to be done. The shorter woman must have realized that it was no use because she rubbed the bridge of her nose and shook her head. “Okay. Fine. I understand that you have to finish this. Just…don’t let it finish you. Okay?”

Aubrey chuckled and gave a slight nod, surprised when Beca leaned into the undamaged side of her body for a brief hug. She was released quickly and Beca moved off with a sniff that was more telling than any argument she could have made. Honestly she had expected more of a fight from Chloe but her best friend remained quiet, choosing instead to hold Roan steady while Stacie helped her get mounted. It was difficult with her leg gone stiff from her injury and her arm in a sling but she made it up alright.

Stacie let her hand linger on Aubrey’s calf, its warm weight reassuring and comforting. There were a lot of things she wanted to say to Stacie but none she had the words for. It didn’t much matter, the gentle squeeze of assurance and playful wink let her know that Stacie knew exactly why she was doing what she was doing.

“We’ll be waiting on ya, darlin’.”

It was so little, just a single sentence really, but it meant so much. Aubrey touched the brim of her hat and gave a short nod of her head. Stacie chuckled softly and stepped back to let her go. She tapped her heels into Roan’s flanks and he surged forward, pulling the trail pup cart behind him.

Taking the long dirt track up to the main house gave her a strange feeling. It was like putting on a familiar coat and finding it two sizes too small. The closer she got the more tightly constricted she felt until her breathing came in short and shallow pants. Aubrey hesitated for a moment as she passed under the wide arch and continued up the path to the manor.

It was mildly startling when she realized that she hated this place. Hated everything about it from the large white house to everything it represented. She hated the proudly hung confederate flags. She hated her brother and the feeling of dread that came along with his presence, dead or alive. And most importantly she hated her father. A man who sowed cruelty, fear and hate while pretending to be a pious man of principle.

Roan snorted and tossed his head as he slowed and finally stopped, drawing her out of the turmoil of her thoughts. The shadow of the house seemed to grow, reaching further out to cover her almost as if it wanted to claim her. She hooked the knotted reins on the horn of her saddle and carefully swung her leg over, using her good arm to balance as she gripped the horn tightly and eased herself down.

“Miss Aubrey? Lord….wait. Let me help you.”

Strong hands steadied and guided her gently to the ground and she turned to see a familiar smiling face. “Thank you Josiah.” She smiled as she took a step back to take him all in. “You sure have grown tall like your daddy. Last time I was here…”

“I was knee high to a pony.” His deep rumble of a laugh was infectious and she chuckled too. “It sure has been a long time Miss Aubrey. None of us thought we’d ever see you here again. You traded in your pretty Sunday dresses for cold steel instead I see.”

Her smile faded and she gave a slow nod. “I have found that I am more likely to be heard if people think I might be willing to shoot them.”

Josiah gave her a deep laugh and nodded. It was a nice sound and he looked so much like his father Big John. Josiah’s family had labored hard under her father’s ownership and when the Confederacy fell they chose to stay on as sharecroppers and hired help. Despite the way she felt about being back there, she was glad to see the young boy she had known, grown into a man.

“Yes ma’am I do believe that does make one memorable conversation starter. Can I stable your horse?”

She thought about it and shook her head. “No, thank you. Just unhitch him for me. I reckon I won’t be long. I’m just here to bring my brother home.”

He blinked at her then turned surprised eyes to the cart, finally taking in the coffin laying in the bed of it. Josiah let out a breath and turned back to her, his face a careful emotionless mask. “Is that Mister Avery?”

Aubrey gave a curt nod and hooked her thumb in gun belt as she glanced at the box. “It is. I’m sure Father will want to see him buried with the family.” She took a breath and started to walk up to the front steps. Josiah’s low voice rumbled out and she looked over her shoulder at him.

“I’m sorry for your loss Miss Aubrey.”

She gave him a slow nod of acknowledgement and sighed. “Thank you, Josiah.” Aubrey turned back to the large heavy door steeled herself to reach out and open it but the knob twisted and the door swung in before she could do it herself. Aubrey brought her head up and met her mother’s honey brown eyes. “Hello Mother.”

There was a moment when she was sure her mother would slam the door in her face. In the back of her mind she had hoped that she would. It would make leaving all the easier, her duty was done, she’d brought Avery home and now she could leave. But her mother stepped out onto the verandah and flung herself against Aubrey’s body, squeezing her tightly. She groaned softly as her shoulder protested the pressure but she didn’t dare let go. “Oh Aubrey….oh my Lord. You’re alive.”

Tears welled up but she cleared her throat and stepped back. How she wished that her mother had shown even one half of that much affection for her growing up. Of course she knew her mother could never stand up to her father, she was weak and dependent on him and Aubrey could not fault her for that. But it didn’t mean she hadn’t longed for the comfort and love of a mother when she had been hurt so badly. Her mother’s fingers traced over the scar on her face and Aubrey jerked her head away roughly.

“You!” The door swung open wider and her father’s broad shoulder’s filled the space. His green eyes, the same shade as her own, burned with hate at the very sight of her. It was expected and yet it was like taking a kick to the gut. “What are you doing here? You ungrateful…”

“Avery’s dead.” It had stopped his rant before it even began and he searched for the lie in her eyes. There was none and she met his gaze evenly, waiting for him to accept the truth of it. Her father backed into the house, shock making his jaw go slack and his steps seem brittle and unsteady. Her mother balled fists in Aubrey’s shirt and gave her a shake as if that would make it any less true. “I’m sorry mother. I’ve brought his body home.”

Her mother turned to look at the cart sitting not ten feet away and gasped out a sob. She turned and fled into the house to cling to Aubrey’s father for comfort of which he had little to spare. But he held her and rocked her soothingly as silent sobs shook his own body. It was not the loss of her brother than brought Aubrey pain. It was the knowledge that on her passing there would be no such show of grief or tenderness of her memory.

Aubrey settled her shoulders and limped into the house, shutting the door behind her. She swept her hat off her head, letting her golden locks fall to her shoulders. The blonde placed her hat on the round table in the foyer and looked around, taking in every detail and noting that nothing had changed in the slightest.

“How….how did it happen?”

She turned her head toward her father and raised a brow. “He picked a fight with the wrong outlaw and her wife took exception.” It fell heavy as a stone between them, her sobbing mother oblivious to her words or their meaning. But her father was not. His sharp gaze cut to her and she nodded once in confirmation of what he was silently asking. Yes. He had been coming after Aubrey herself.

“You killed my boy? You murdered your own blood?” Rage filled his eyes and he shoved her mother away roughly, the bit of warm compassion evaporating under the burning heat of hate. “I should have killed you when you were a child. Drowned you in the river…” He advanced on her in two steps but her gun was in her hand and cocked before the third step fell.

“I did not kill him, though I would have. Your boy? Your boy was nothing more than a bully and tormentor.” She hadn’t wanted it to come to this but she had known she might need to defend herself, had mentally prepared for it because the house was not the only thing that remained unchanged. He had never loved her, or even liked her before, and now that she was the cause of Avery’s death he loathed her.

“And you are nothing more than a thief and a whore.” Her mother gave a sharp sob but she didn’t argue it and she didn’t get up from her place on the floor where she had been cast off. She wanted to be angry but she couldn’t muster it. She was just too tired of the oppressive weight to living in Gerrard Posen’s mighty shadow. “You may walk out of this house, girl, but I will have the law after you. And the Devil will take you to his bosom when they hang you from your neck. You are a curse and a blight upon the name of Posen.”

Aubrey’s chuckle was soft and he glared at her audacity in mocking him. “He may very well do that, I’ll send your son my regards when I get there.”

It was too much for him and he roared, intending to rush her and take her to the ground. She had no doubt he would choke the life from her if he managed to get his meaty hands around her throat. He’d done it once before only stopping when a fire had sparked in the fields. A fire she suspected was started by Josiah’s father, Big John. Aubrey didn’t wait to find out if she was right or not, she pulled the trigger and shot into the ground at his feet as a warning.

Her mother screamed and covered her ears with her hands. Her father paused only a moment before he continued to lunge. It felt like she had all the time in the world to bring her gun up and aim at his chest. She was already thumbing back the hammer but the soft click was no more a deterrent than the warning shot she had just fired. She thought she would be sad or broken about pulling the trigger a second time. She thought that she would feel…. _something_ from taking his life, but she felt nothing at all. Her mother gave another scream and finally lifted from her place on the floor to run to her husband’s side.

“What have you done Aubrey?! What have you done??”

The barrel of her still smoking gun dipped and she wearily holstered it with a shake of her head. “I showed a mercy that was never shown to me.” She opened the door and snagged her hat off the table, sparing one last glance at the house she once called home and the woman she once called mother. “I didn’t come here to kill him, but I’m not sad he’s dead.”

Aubrey stepped out on to the porch and settled her hat on her head. Josiah was staring at her, one hand on Roan’s neck idly stroking. The flutter of red caught her attention and Aubrey’s lip curled in disgust. Anger finally broke through her apathy and she reached up to tear down the confederate flag, balling it and tossing it in the dirt as she made her way down the steps.

“Are you alright Miss Aubrey?”

She didn’t rightly know. But she wasn’t going to sit around there figuring it out. Aubrey strode purposefully to her horse and Josiah cautiously helped her climb up into the saddle. “I will be but Gerrard will not. Best call the doctor up here…and Josiah? Burn that garbage and any other rebel banner you find.”

He gave a slow nod and looked toward the door to the house. “I saw you go north.”

She gave the reins a tug to turn Roan around and raised a brow in question. “What?”

“When they come for you….I saw you leave north.”

He reached up a hand and Aubrey clasped it in hers, understanding fully what he meant. “You’re a good man Josiah, may God bless you.”

Hooves thundered down the path and she smiled as her family rode up to meet her. Josiah ducked his head and smiled up at her. “Where will you really go?”

“Where ever they go, I go.” Aubrey clicked her tongue and Roan trotted forward leaving the weight of her past behind her with every step.  


End file.
